You have LOTR in my Alice in Wonderland

Rating: 4/10 (14 March 2010)

Starting out, I really had no expectations going into this movie. I'm a Tim Burton fan and find everything he does to be extremely watchable -- I even loved the Planet of the Apes remake and Charlie & The Chocolate Factory.
This, however, is not one of his best movies. It has nothing to do with the out-of-place dance from Johnny Depp, although that does hurt the film.
It's the fact that Burton is using now-staple of fantasy movie actors, like Christopher Lee and Alan Rickman. They performed admirably except they don't have much to work with.
You expect to feel a connection to the characters or the story -- but you really don't. It feels like you are watching recycled epic scenes from other movies like Lord of the Rings, Narnia & Harry Potter. Alice in Wonderland is not about any of that. It's not about 'heroes' banding together to save Wonderland. It's about a messed-up girl who doesn't quite understand this world or Wonderland -- what you see is what she sees. Yet, she didn't seem surprised by any of it and neither were you. The ending was telegraphed in advance and didn't really lead to any surprises. I really wanted to see a plot twist in the movie -- such as the White Queen is really Alice, but grown up.
But instead, she slays the creature and that's it. A touching moment with the Mad Hatter and she's back in the real world.
If you want a movie with childhood literature reimagined, get Finding Neverland or Where The Wild Things Are. Those are lot better movies and more deeply moving than this. I think if Tim Burton did Alice in Wonderland more like those movies, it would be a lot better. There is a brief scene at the end that connects the characters in Alice's world to Wonderland, but too little too late.