A "trippy" trip

Rating: 9/10 (11 March 2010)

After reading a few negative reviews from critics, and glowing reviews from "non-critics" and critics, I found this movie to be very enjoyable for most ages, though kids under 7 might find it too scary.
Most of the actors that did voice work, such as Alan Rickman as the hookah-smoking caterpillar, Tim Spall as the Bloodhound, and Stephen Fry as the Cheshire Cat, did superb work. While the other actors did good work, these characters stood out for me. My only disappointment, and it was small, was with Matt Lucas as the Tweedles. My kids laughed at their antics, but I wasn't as amused.
Of the "real" people in Underland, I found the Red Queen, the White Queen and the Mad Hatter as the best (getting to Alice in a bit). The Knave of Hearts, played by Crispin Clover, just didn't seem to really "get" the whole idea behind the fantasy. He's not terrible, but something just seems to be missing in his performance. (Not an opinion shared by my fellow movie-watchers, though.) That brought my rating down a point. The Hatter recites a part of my favorite poem from "Alice's Adventures In Wonderland" and he does it so well, I wish he'd been able to recite the entire poem. I'm not going to tell you which one. Johnny Depp is easily the best "thing" in this film. He gets the crazieness, the strangeness of it all, though Helena, Anne and Mia (Alice) are just as good.
Alice finds that she needs to be assertive and for some, this is a feminist message. I don't know why that doesn't sit well with certain people, but it does. I thought it was a good message, not letting other people decide your destiny, especially when it feels completely wrong. This movie is worth seeing in IMAX 3D or even in 3D (seen it twice, and in both formats), though the Cheshire cat really comes "alive" in IMAX 3D. 9/10.