Bloated retread of fantasy movies

Rating: 3/10 (22 March 2010)

I am not going to lash this rather poor movie with references to the books or Disney cartoon (although I did see it first time around in 1951 and was enchanted!), and just treat it as another movie from Hollywood. Why or why is everything now so derivative of what has gone before? Is it that filmmakers think young audiences must have familiarity with something before they will begin the lazy process of watching a fantasy film? This film is dark and poor - just like 'Batman' in the noughties, and just as awful. 'Narnia' springs to mind with Alice in silver armour and carrying Excalibur or whatever, 'Avatar' when the creatures chase Alice, cue big dumb giant sabre toothed tiger running through the grassland'jungle and swooping birds/dragons up and down (did Tim Burton use the same software for his CGI because it is becoming an awful pain to watch?), 'Titanic' with the heroine at the bowsprit, 'Lord of the Rings' with the battle between good and evil amidst a blasted landscape, and the usual 'spot the English thesp' voice amongst the support cast. Oh dear, one could go on, but why? The dreary experience in the cinema took too much out of my life! The script is poor, the imagination very thin, and lots of money has been wasted. Dear, oh dear!