Alice in Wonderland; a huge visual treat, but lacking in the other departments.

I wanted to love this movie. It seemed like the perfect match for Tim Burton's visual and storytelling style. Unfortunately though, it lacks in everything but the visuals.

The story was good, back when it was American McGee's Alice. I would have loved to see Burton tackle that, but instead he pussified it to make a more family oriented film. In doing so, it lost much of the charm it originally had. Now that I have bitched about stealing the story, it would probably be wise to explain what it actually is. Alice is all grown up and is forced into an arranged marriage (her family died in a fire and she became suicidal in the game) but during the ceremony she runs away to follow the White Rabbit (played brilliantly by Michael Sheen). Soon after, she finds herself in a Wonderland taken over by the Red Queen (played by Helena Bonham Carter). The interesting thing about this movie is that it seemed to focus on he Mad Hatter (played by Johnny Depp). This is more than likely for marketing reasons. What better to sell a movie than to focus on the big name actors! This may come across as harsh, and I don't apologize for it. The story was fucking awful To end this, the pacing was just rushed. It barely had any development.

The actual acting was all over the place. Mia Wasikowska, who played Alice, was just bad. Helena Bonham Carter and Johnny Depp were good as usual, but they didn't do anything different form their usual Burton Characters. The big standout was Alan Rickman as the Blue Caterpillar. Christopher Lee was also good, and I won't spoil who he plays.

The music, for the most part, was competent. It was refreshing to see Danny Elfman do a good job after the horrid Wolfman soundtrack. It was creepy and foreboding, but also fast paced and heroic when it needed to be.

Now for the cream of the crop; the visuals. There were a few a black sheep, like the completely cg creatures. They just didn't mix with the live action actors, for the most part. My personal favorite was the Jabberwocky. It was very faithful to Lewis Carol's original concept art for it and my god it was awesome. Wonderland itself was well done. It really fit Burton's style for mindfuck moments. This is one of the few movies that I can recommend solely based on visuals.

There's really not much else I can say about this movie other than go see it if you're a fan of great visuals. If you're expecting an amazing story or acting, go see Shutter Island instead.