If it doesn't gel, then it's not aspic... and this just isn't gelling.

Rating: 6/10 (6 May 2010)

Alice in Wonderland centers around teenage Alice who again travels to the magical wonderland she visited as a child. She has forgotten about it though and must learn about all the interesting creatures and cultures as she tries to save Wonderland from the grip of the evil Red Queen.
It's hard to say what exactly, but something definitely went very wrong during the production of Alice in Wonderland. They had a great cast as well as a great director who seemed perfectly suited for a visionary movie like this, but amazingly none of this ever really comes together right. Aside from some of the visuals and a few of the characters none of this really works much at all.
Aside from the poorly written script possibly the biggest problem would be the pacing. Characters and plot points are introduced at a such a break neck pace that it is very hard for any of it to really register in your mind. Every five minutes a new creature is introduced and then seems to just fade into the background as more characters are brought in. The viewer never really gets a chance to get to know or reflect on any of these characters and it's hard to find their motivation. Even Alice, who is the only two dimensional character in the film isn't even much of a character. Why does she care at all about the fate of Wonderland, I'm not sure.
The acting isn't particularly state of the art either. I didn't find Depp's Mad Hatter to be funny or interesting, just annoying. Depp is a very good actor and excels in creating interesting character traits and turning what would have been boring characters into the high point of an otherwise dull movie (Jack Sparrow). He doesn't manage to get that here.
The only reason I can find to see Alice in Wonderland would be for the visuals or if you are a huge fan of the original and just want to see Burton's take on the story. I'm not a fan of 3D, but if you are don't see it for that either. The 3D is not nearly as well integrated as in Avatar.