Alice in Wonderland

Director: Tim Burton
Year Released: 2010
Rating: 2.0

The Lewis Carroll stories about confused little Alice get an unnecessary ... sequel (?) of sorts from the visually imaginative Burton, who unsuccessfully tries to tie together not simply Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, but also Carroll's poem Jabberwocky. The 3D aspects - I was able to see this in a theater - are nice, but the storytelling is flat, and newcomer Mia Wasikowska (as the heroine) fails to commit to the role; I understand reacting against a green screen isn't the easiest task, but she could hardly seem to be any less curious. Carroll's books were, among many things, about a child's naivety (and fear) in a crazy adult world; this is a showcase of costumes and color and digital effects with little correlation to 'humanity' (and the bookend scenes, with their talk of Imperialism and class, don't seem to arrive at a meaningful point). Johnny Depp appears as Johnny Depp dressed like Kefka from Final Fantasy 6.