Unbounded imagination has always been a strongpoint in director Tim Burton’s work, and Alice in Wonderland is no exception.  Fans looking for a purist take on Lewis Carroll’s classic story may be disappointed, this film is Alice journeying into a 3D Wonderland that filled with Burton’s eye-catching visuals and underrated sense of humor.  Alice (luminous newcomer Mia Wasikowska) is no longer a child, and as a 19-year-old she forgets that Wonderland was her refuge from her relatively mundane world.  Forced into an arranged marriage, Alice refuses to fade into rigid structure of Victorian society and follows a rabbit (voiced by Michael Sheen) down a hole which leads her to an entirely different universe.

At first, she doesn’t remember Tweedledee and Tweedledum (Matt Lucas), the Cheshire Cat (Stephen Fry), nor even the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp, in his most outlandish Burton performance yet).  It’s up to Alice to take down the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter) and restore the kingdom to the Queen’s more saintly sister, the White Queen (Anne Hathaway).  But for Alice to defeat the Red Queen, she must reclaim her inner child and believe that fantasy and reality can co-exist.  The Mad Hatter, who is completely off his rocker, is Alice’s closest partner-in-crime, and the future of Wonderland lies in their hands. 

As a visual experience, Alice in Wonderland fails to disappoint, and only once has Burton completely failed at making a film a viscerally interesting watch (anyone recall Planet of the Apes).  But a little heart and resonance would have been more welcome amidst all the wonderment, Burton’s Ed Wood, Edward Scissorhands, and Big Fish proves that the right pinch of humanity can go a long way. Still there is much pleasure to be had from Alice in Wonderland, as watching a Tim Burton movie in 3D, or for that matter, watching any Burton flick, should be worth the price of admission.