Alice In Wonderland is a fantasias adventure starring Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, and Helena Bonham Carter in what seems to be the beginning to the end of terror in a kingdom.
The true three-dimensionality here is the old-fashioned kind -- Wasikowska's fully rounded performance. Throughout the technical razzle-dazzle, we keep returning to the pallor of that face, the gravity in those eyes.
Storytelling has never been Burton's strong suit and his weakness is here compounded by a desire to somehow squeeze Carroll's topsy-turvy, logical-illogical tales into a teen-friendly, Disney-approved, big-screen adventure.
The movie is seeped in distinctive visuals, lavish photography and set design that recalls the wondrous texture of "Harry Potter." What, then, held them back on taking further creative opportunities with the story?
This latest rendition of "Alice in Wonderland" is a journey worth taking mainly to see Tim Burton's imagination at play. The story is so well-known, but you haven't seen it done quite in this way before.
