Burton teams up with Disney for a Wonderland of mediocrity

I have been anticipating this movie for two years. Last night all that waiting came to an end at the midnight premiere of Alice in Wonderland 3D.

The cast and characters are wonderful. The Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) and the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter) actually hold their own as characters without reminding you of the actors. This is the first Burton film since Edward Scissorhands where Depp's identity doesnt overpower the character. Crispin Glover (George McFly, The Wizard of Gore), welcome back to the big screen. Alan Rickman (caterpillar) could lend his voice to anything and make an incredible character.

Mia Wasikowska could not be a more perfect Alice. Her whimsical, pixie-like features and quizzical expressions convinced me that she belongs in Wonderland— or, in Burton's version, Underland (pronounced Oonderland).

As you can expect from Tim Burton, the design aspects are stunning. The landscapes are intricately detailed and never have I been more inspired to go buy a sewing machine. The costumes, Alice's dresses particularly, are gorgeous. The video below gives you a quick view of my favorite dress before Alice outgrows it and her most popular dress, given to her by the Red Queen is pictured here. The Red Queen and the Hatter are also built from brilliant character concepts and are visually amazing.

As far as the 3D version, save yourself $3.00 and see the movie in "RegularD". Other than enhancing wide shots of beautiful landscapes, 3D adds nothing and is nauseating during the (many) fast paced scenes. I very much enjoyed the 3D image of the talking flowers towering over me, but that's it.

Regardless of the visual dimension in which you choose to see the film, the story is disappointingly one dimensional. It's enjoyable, but I felt nothing. Burton's films generally evoke a range of deep emotion & I did not get a single goosebump. The plot is bland, eventually throwing Alice into the heroic "strong woman" role that Disney is pushing hard these days & left me unfulfilled. I sat through the entire credits, certain there must be more. There is not.

Disney, as feared, took nearly all the Burton out of it. This Alice in Wonderland is not the darkly mysterious adventure that had so much promise. There is some Burton in the smaller details, but it's as if Disney gave him one character with whom to display his vision and Burton piled it on thick on the Mad Hatter.

It's worth seeing if you're a Disney or Alice in Wonderland fan in general, but don't expect too much. Turn off your brain and enjoy how pretty it all is. Hopefully Burton and Disney will reevaluate their relationship and film structure for Burton's full length remake of his 1984 short film, Frankenweenie, due out next year.