Some kind of Wonderful, is Burton's Alice, being very imaginative and vibrant; but, purists, take heed! This is a new chapter!

Rating: 8/10 (10 March 2010)

Alice (Mia Wasikowska) has been having strange dreams since childhood. Only her father could comfort her when she got scared during the night. Now, her papa has passed away and she is a 19 year old woman in the early 20th century. Her mother (Miranda Richardson) shuffles her to a party where, unknown to Alice, she will receive a proposal of marriage from a stuffy, carrot-topped Lord of England. But, at the critical moment, with the man on his knees, Alice spots a white rabbit and says she needs "a moment" to think. Following the rabbit, she tumbles down a hole in the ground, where she ends up in Wonderland. She may have been there before! As she drinks and eats the magic juices and cakes to make her larger and smaller, she eventually gets through a locked chamber and into the forest. Immediately, she is pursued by the Bandersnatch, a striped beast, who is doing the bidding of the evil Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter). But, the dormouse saves Alice by snatching away one of the beast's eyes. Arriving at a safe place, Alice meets The Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp), the Cheshire Cat, the blue caterpillar, Absolam (Alan Rickman) and the rest. At the hatter's tea party, Alice learns the current happenings in the land. The Red Queen is in total power, having defeated her younger sister, the lovely White Queen (Anne Hathaway). Aiding the royal is the black-hearted knave (Crispin Glover). They can take prisoners or utter "off with their heads" whenever they wish. Indeed, the Red Queen has recently taken TweedleDee and TweedleDum as her own little "fat boys", to amuse her when she wishes. Alice also learns a secret. That is, she, Alice, has the power to defeat Big Red in the near future. But, it would require an enormous act of bravery. Will she, Alice, be willing to risk everything for the kingdom? Dear purists, don't fret over this new version with endless criticisms. The film is the "next" chapter in the life of Alice, as she herself has flashbacks of her previous trip to Wonderland as a little girl Now, ten years later, she has returned, in Burton's vision. And, what a vibrant, imaginative vision it is, for the director's Wonderland is a joy to behold, visually speaking. There is, in fact, so much detail to the settings that one would have to see the film two or three times to appreciate everything presented. Apart from the setting, the cast is truly wonderful, too. Depp, alas, has less memorable lines and scenes but, that is not his fault. In any case, he definitely has his moments and works them to highest advantage. On the other hand, Bonham Carter MAKES the film, for her Red Queen is very comical and her appearance, with a huge, lightbulb shaped head, is a scream. All of the others do fine work, too, especially Timothy Spall as Bayard, the hound. Wasikowska is effective in her first big role but is by no means a polished performer yet. As for the movie's other assets, the costumes, art direction and camera-work, they are of the highest quality. The one item that did not please me was the "playing card" attendants to the Red Queen should not have been red! They could have had red hats and sashes but the way they are, it is difficult to tell what they are. Sorry, that's really small potatoes. IF there is anything lacking at all, it is these things. One, there is not enough humor, in my opinion, I wish there had been more. And, two, the film does "borrow" some elements of the Wizard of Oz and, believe it or not, Titanic. However, these are no reasons to miss this flick at all. In truth, Burton's Alice in Wonderland is some kind of wonderful and its reputation will grow in the coming years.