OK if you don't have any expectations

Rating: 3/10 (19 March 2010)

After having read a bunch of reviews before watching Alice in Wonderland, I'd lost most of all my expectations to the film. I only expected to see some pretty 3D... (as it was my first film in 3D)
The 3D really sucked. It's fine in the beginning, but after a while it's just annoying.
The movie on the other hand was not horrible. It wasn't a real Tim Burton movie - only the character Hamish reminded me of something Tim Burton would put in a movie.
But having said that, it wasn't a bad movie. Yes, it was quite boring and though it contained a lot of the great actors, who normally shine through every film, it was clear all the way through that the whole thing was filmed in front of a green screen. They lacked connection, not only to their surroundings, but also to their fellow actors. It was clearly too difficult for the actors and they probably did the best they could. Johnny Depp didn't seem at all like Willy Wonka or Jack Sparrow to me(okay, perhaps the latter once or twice), but he didn't become the role as you normally see with him. Maybe because he didn't know who Hatter really was. This was a confusing character. He didn't seem directly Mad, just like he had a bit too many personalities (one of them reminding of Jack Sparrow). The other actors did OK too with the character and script they had been given. There was some overacting here and there, but all in all they could have done much worse. The main reason why some people (also me actually) is disappointed with the acting is that we naturally expect so much more from such great actors.
What saved the movie for me was the talking animals - though I normally loathe these things in movies. The voice acting over-shone the "real life" acting, especially Stephen Fry was wonderful. And the animals made the movie fun too.
I think that if Tim Burton had made this film as in the old days with real surroundings and not too many animations (a la Beetlejuice), the movie could've been great. The actors would have been able to act with their surroundings and communicate with each other which probably would improve their acting a great deal - 'cause we know they can act. Or else Burton should have made it as a real animation film.
I missed the Tim Burton heart of the film. The problem is that when you go to see a Tim Burton film, you're not gonna be satisfied with a "normal" film. And that is what Alice in Wonderland is: A "normal" film with way too many special effects.