This movie goes to show that it doesn’t matter the level of brilliancy of those involved, if the movie only exists as a format to show off special effects, it is going to suck. Much more attention was given to setting up Alice’s wardrobe changes than to creating a good story. Burton never settles on whether the film is a remake of the original story or a sequel, and therefore ends up with a messy muddle. Alice has been to Wonderland before as a girl, but spends most of the movie simply repeating her girlhood adventures since she doesn’t remember it.

Obviously the appeal of the movie is to see how Burton envisions Wonderland and its many iconic characters, but that seems to be as far as Burton is willing to go. There was so much reliance on people already knowing the characters and their situations, and not on a being able to enjoy this film as a stand-alone piece. And when you constantly are comparing the film to its sources (both the books and the original Disney animated cartoon), this film can only disappoint – mostly because of the way this one is stripped of any and all wit and charm.

What Burton does differently is his gravitation towards the Jabberwocky. Carroll’s poem is heralded as being the best nonsense poem of all time, but for someone who has previously shown such prowess in achieving cinematic whimsy, Alice in Wonderland comes off as very dull and over-worked.