Tim Burton's merit: holding the "pieces" of Wonderland together.

Rating: 8/10 (14 March 2010)

We all know the Burton-Depp formula!. And it worked again... for what it is.
I'm not a huge fan from Burton or Depp. So when I saw the "Alice" posters all around the city I thought "I'm getting tired of the same overacted, exquisite characters portrayed by Depp"; and "this looks like the TYPICAL Tim Burton movie".
So I went with my girlfriend to watch "Alice" on 3D and I must admit that I had a very good time with it. I was never a big fan of the Alice story and I even watched the Disney version for the last time maybe 18 years ago.
Tim Burton knows perfectly that the Alice story is filled with plenty of random moments, random characters, and situations. So it was a delight for him to expand all his fantasy oriented ideas on this story. He created a beautiful Wonderland where everything looks fantastic, shiny, non-sense, but also dry, dark; all inside an uncertain atmosphere.
But Tim Burton's "strong feature" is the character creation. This time he didn't fail. The Alice character is the strongest feature of the movie. He picked up a talented actress that is easy for the eye. Her dialogs, clothes, actions were very well done released. The Mad Hatter was by far the most eccentric, weird, and comical character. Nice performance by Johnny Depp who always picks weird roles. Helena Bonham Carter delivered a fine performance with black humor as the Red Queen. She was hysterical. Anne Hathaway was perfect as the "moody" and nice White Queen. She's always beautiful! It was nice to "hear" Christopher Lee. Crispin Glove was great. Tim Burton really knows how to pick "exotic" looking actors/actresses for his movies. The rest of the cast is displayed by CGI characters that were likable, comical, and crazy! The dogs, mice, rabbits, etc. were all nice to look at.
You can also expect action, humor, the typical "sentimental" moments (for example, when the Mad Hatter escapes from the Red Queen's castle and returns to the White Queen's territory, walking in company of Alice's "allies".
The plot isn't exactly complex and it's filled with random situations. Some examples include The Mad Hatter's dancing. I rest my case. Still, it was a very easy to follow story where you just need to relax and enjoy the amazing atmosphere and crazy situations. This is an entertaining movie that doesn't tries to be more than that.
There's plenty of black humor in all kinds of situations. When there's tension, danger, etc. The black humor was top notch and greatly displayed by the Mad Hatter and the Red Queen.
The CGI and Art Direction is simply spectacular. Wonderland never looked this amazing. I enjoyed every single setting and characters. Burton knew how to get the best from the film's budget.
Tim Burton HAD to do this movie. The result is an entertaining film experience. Nothing more, nothing less. But it should please the fans of the story.
The score was just decent. Nothing spectacular. Avril Lavigne's "Alice" song fit perfectly after the ending. Nice.
I enjoyed my visit to Wonderland. Well, 99% of the time mainly because a crying baby ruined the last 5 minutes of the movie (after the monster beheading). My advice would be: don't bring little kids to the movie on 3D. Some scenes may be too scary for them and annoying for the rest of the audience!