"One summer’s afternoon I sat at my wife’s friend’s house for her engagement party. I sat alone, because I knew none of the people there outside of the two celebrating their engagement, listening to everyone talk. Finally, after an hour or so of sitting and stuffing my face with snacks, the subject turned to something I find interesting, movies. Everyone was talking about the newly released Tim Burton movie, Alice in Wonderland. Most everyone their liked it and encouraged others to go and see it. I still was jobless and had been for 7 months prior to this, so money was spent on wiser things (for the most part), so I packed that little recommendation away until it came to the streaming Netflix que on my Xbox 360. What was then spewed out of my 60” screen hurt my brain.

Mother of mercy Tim Burton, what have you unleashed on this world? Not only did this movie hurt my brain, it hurt my eyes. This guy usually does well with visuals strung around a decent story, Big Fish, Batman, Edward Scissorhands, Sweeney Todd, Sleepy Hollow, etc, but he tried to gouge the eyes of his viewers through the screen on this one. I have been able to count on one hand the movies I have stopped watching and never picked up again, this movie makes me add the other hand into the mix. I just couldn’t do it; I was bored, irritated and uninterested.

I knew previously to watching this that there was another needless feminist agenda laced through this movie. It looked like it was definitely going that way, but not having finished it; I will just have to take the reviewers I read words for it. But it was prevalent in the early stages of the movie, but yet again, was not done well. Alice is played to annoyingly bad childish stupidity by Mia Wasikowska. Our heroine is nothing more than a petulant child, who is deserving of nothing even close to what she feels respect is. She is a girl, wanting to be treated like an adult, who throws little hissy fits to get her point across. Way to empower women there Timmy. She is an extremely unlikable main character. Oh, and real shocker on this one, another feminist movie where every guy in the “real” world is a jerk who treats women like props. If I had to decide which is more annoying it would be the tried and true immature lead who thinks she is owed something she has obviously never deserved, respect. Respect is not earned by whining and pouting Alice.

Also, it’s not the typical Alice story most of us are familiar with. As far as I know it looked like it was the after effect of the two books that were written. So right off the bat, if you are unfamiliar with either book or the previous movie incarnations, who knows if you’ll know what’s going on. It’s also annoying that she has no recollection of either experience. She could have remembered somewhere during the course of the movie, but I don’t care that I really don’t know if that happened or not. The story must have been quickly slapped together so that Tim Burton and Johnny Depp could do another movie together, this time with a much bigger emphasis on giving the audience a seizure.

Granted it’s not entirely fair to write an article for this movie only having seen the first excruciating half hour, but it’s my site and I needed an article to write. Don’t see this movie, can’t stress that enough. Definitely not with kids, the scantily clad Alice has no place in family fair and most young kids might be scared by the looks of the film. But if you have seen it and liked it or still plan on seeing it, more power to you."

"I love Alice in wonderland and i loved this verison even more. The mad hatter was truly mad (like he was supposed to be i mean people felt it was weird when he went physico but hello the name is mad hatter for a reason) and the red queen was evil as ever and alice was just as alice should be. If you get the point of the movie and know Tim Burton then you would understand this film and why it was such a great film. Jhonny Depp is indeed a very versatile actor and played his part amazingly and looked like the mad hatter should look. Tim Burton made wonderland look even more fun and did an excellent job with the colors and costumes. It was even better then i thought it would be."

"Very beautifully directed

and Anne Hathway and Jonny Depp have done an outstanding job!"

"absolutely charming and sweet! An instant classic!!! See it asap if you haven't!!!! Tim Burton is a genius!!!"

"Very good movie. Johny Depp came through once again. He was a perfect candidate for this role.

<a href=>ReelScreenReviews</a>"

"I'm still watching it till this day. Everythings good about it. graphics, actors, and plot... Did not see any mistakes, or misacts..."

"I honestly tried to sit through this insulting movie twice, and walked out both times. The first time I paid matinee prices. I walked out when the mouse stuck a needle in this poor creature's eye, and I"m an adult. Imagine how children feel strapped to their seats with a liter of popcorn! The second time, I saw it at the dollar movies while I was trying to waste an afternoon. That time, I made it all the way to where the Mad Hatter goes completely bonkers and turns into a psychopath. Too scary for me. I've seen happier times visiting Alzheimer's patients.

Little children shouldn't be subjected to the whims of sociopathic bottom feeders from UCLA Film School.

Bad film, not fit for viewing in a Federal penitentiary."

"I love this movie. Better than the carton."

"Man what a long movie and dull Johnny Depp was excellent

however"

"Like I said before it's the same movie, not really any new characters, but it's so different. I thought it was a really good movie. The whole family enjoyed it, even my hubby."

"now i've seen the lewis carrol version but this tops it by a land slide but overal it was an awsome movie."

"Alice in Wonderland was an enticing and visually exciting adventure that kept my attention and youth intact throughout the entire film. Having read the book, Alice Through the Looking Glass, and seen the old Alice in Wonderland (cartoon version), I had huge expectations for this movie. However, the film was unlike either of the two versions I was familiar with so there wasn't much basis for comparison. Instead, Alice was older, revisiting a world she had entered as a child which she thought was a dream, and now falling back into it to find her backbone and identity by challenging the Queen of Hearts, her army, and her secret weapon. Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter and as the Queen of Hearts have a huge space in my heart and their acting was, as always, dark, fitting to character and well exaggerated to parallel such a dreamlike world. Alice seemed rather morbid or just sad throughout the film, but maybe I'm confusing that emotion in fact with, confusion. All of the original characters were the same, and many of the situations Alice encountered were similar, but twisted. For example, the scene with the Mad Hatter and hare drinking tea and having a 'very unhappy birthday' was reinacted, and you get the visual of the wild sugar induced and hyperactive tea party but you don't get the song and dance that came with the disney version. Many scenes were like this, that is, more adult-like which was fitting. Personally I enjoyed the movie and felt like I was my own Alice trying to figure out who I am and what I want in life. Even though I was unfortunately in the second row from the screen (way too close) and the 3-D glasses made me nauseous, I still found the movie gripping and refused to turn away."

"Forget about Walt Disney's cartoon Alice character with the innocent personality, bright yellow hair, and baby blue colored dress. This is a dark, wild adaption of Lewis Carroll's classic but Tim Burton sat in the director's chair for this one so that's to be expected. This production is filled with imagination from start to finish. Not only visually but also in the story. Burton made a smart move by not giving us the same plot as we've already seen. Here, Alice is older and is about to get married. Also, she ends up in Wonderland for the second time or in this case, "Underland." The script is a little fresher than other remakes. Visually, the movie is amazing. The land's environment looks like something straight out of Candyland and the film's setting is glamorized in Hollywood special-effects having 90% of it be in green screen. Surprisingly, all of the main performances are top notch including the lead actress as the title role and Helena Bonham Carter as The Red Queen. But Johnny Depp really steals every scene he's in as The Mad Hatter. He was perfectly cast because of his ability to take his characters way past the oddly intriguing line and make them unforgettable. One thing that weighs down on the film though is its subplot in the middle. The movie starts to drag quite a bit and takes too much advantage and too much time with the effects it has. That said, I recommend seeing this one in the theatre. Definitely try to see it in 3-D, it’s very cool!"

"The animation was awsome in 3D IMAX! My family and I enjoyed watching Alice and Wonderland and Johnny Depp was amazing, his talent really shines through. The 3D IMAX experience had my family and I sitting thru all of the movie. It was worth spending the extra money. I don't think my kids would have sat thru the whole movie watching it on a regular movie screen."

"I’ve always had a liking for Tim Burton and his movies. From Beetlejuice to Edward Scissorhands to Big Fish and Sweeney Todd, Burton has kept me amazed and grateful: here, I thought, was a man who was fully capable of giving full shape to his imagination, from the realm of the mind to the realm of the real. Or at least, as real as the cinema can be. Imagine being able to depict so clearly the light and dark one imagines and dreams up! It’s not everyone who can truly and so starkly bring out into the open the contents of his brain, monsters, creepy crawlies, blossoming flowers and exercises in fragility and silence.

But Alice in Wonderland — yes! This is the movie that really made me love Tim Burton.

To me there has always been something grim and dark about Lewis’ two books; as a child reading them, I would end up both highly entertained and not a little scared at all the sights and sounds described: the Jabberwocky, the Mock Turtle, the Cheshire cat and his grin that was always the last to disappear. The Duchess who violently rocked a baby in her arms and the babe slowly transformed into a pig and wandered off. Twiddledee and TwiddleDum who fought like fat gladiators clad in foam over a rattle; the battle between the Lion and the Unicorn.

Lewis Carroll would’ve loved Tim Burton’s work on his beloved little girl. Burton’s ‘Alice’ is humorous, intelligent, funny and frightening; but he added his own understanding of the characters: he made them more real (as real as imaginary characters can be, if that makes any sense?) and more sympathetic.

The White Queen in the original books was always sleepy and lazy; in the movie she’s more active, despite being a pacifist: she was a bit of an apothecary, and she believed in justice.

Burton’s Red Queen was the same as Lewis’ — strident, aggressive, violent. The reasons behind the anger, however, were more than hinted at: she needed love (despite being the Queen of Hearts), and she resented not being her parents’ favorite. She reminded me of Macapagal-Arroyo: big-headed (arrogant), temperamental and human (and animal) rights violator that she was. When the Mad Hatter was thinking about words ‘M’, he looked at the Red Queen and said ‘monster’ and ‘murderer.’ Tim Burton could very well have added ‘Macapagal-Arroyo.’

I never particularly liked the Mad Hatter; after all, he was mad. But he was always amusing, as Lewis Carrol made him clever even in his lunacy. Tim Burton made the Mad Hatter into a hero — whatever craziness he possessed was directed towards the goal of restoring Wonderland (or Underland) and giving back the White Queen her crown her sibling stole. Johnny Depp made the Hatter a compassionate character, unselfish in his lucid moments, poetic in his crazy ones. He spoke American, British, Scottish and Irish in turns, and I thought it made his Hatter more interesting. He was a good friend to the 19-year old Alice in contrast to his conduct in the original books when he was an adult annoyed with the six year old she was before.

There were a few scenes there when it seemed that a romance of some sort could bloom between the Mad Hatter and Alice. Thank goodness nothing of the sort happened, nevermind that the Mad Hatter looked like Johnny Depp.

The plot was, to me, about defiance: defying roles that are foisted upon us; defying rules that serve no purpose but to keep some meek and obedient, while others strong and powerful. It was about taking back what’s been taken; and reclaiming selves lost because of years losing contact with our childhood and its illimitable power: there are no boundaries to a child, we are only taught to recognize them, respect or fear them as we grow up. Some lines are meant to be crossed, especially if it means keeping our braver, brighter selves intact. If we mean to grow up, Burton’s ‘Alice’ teaches us, then it means learning to defend what we truly are and what we really want for ourselves to be. It does not mean forgetting the world of fantasy; growing up means learning to appreciate the gift of imagination and learning from it. Imagination is something that can help strengthen us because in it there is freedom.

Burton’s ‘Alice’ made me realize how not very far off one’s childhood is — it’s always there, and it’s the defining moments that helped give shape and shadow to one’s character even as a child are easily summoned at the smallest visual reminder. I remember believing in fairies and aswang, in talking to animals and flowers and having them talk back (and what interesting conversations we had!). I believed in wanting to be taken seriously by the adults around me, yet at the same time not caring what they think. As a child I liked playing alone, and even then I knew the difference between solitude and aloneness.

I also hated being doubted when I told the truth; and there were days when I wanted to run away because I couldn’t stand other people ( I did run away once, but that’s another story) and what they wanted of and from me.

Burton reminded me of how I was as a child, and I now feel a little bit bewildered despite the gladness at being reunited with the forgotten memory. I don’t have to act all grown up (hahaha!, yes!) because who sets the standards for grown-up behavior anyway? So-called adults all over the world are killing millions of people with their policies of government and warfare. What is necessary, however, is to be responsible and to believe that justice should always be for the greater number even as we assert our own individuality. Alice took advice from the Blue Caterpillar who smoked a hookah and found her strength; in real life there is no such catterpillar blue, hookah-smoking or otherwise. We must, all the same, find ourselves, what we’re meant to do, and do our best to be of purpose, even if it doesn’t have to be slaying Jubjub birds or Jabberwockies."

"I dont know what the people who hated this movie were smoking when they wrote these reviews but I loved everything about this movie! It was GREAT! If you dont Like Tim Burton you may not like it but it was very cool. Johnny Depp was brilliant as was everyone. It was nice to see Crispin Glover (George McFly) again too. GO SEE IT!!!"

"I've been excited for months to see this movie. Well I feel asleep and I wasn't even tired! Boring! Couldn't understand the words. None of us understood the last line... help!"

"The CG is awesome, but Burton and Depp are capable of doing this movie better. The acting was awkward, the stories was plain, nothing was compelling but the visuals. There were even obvious defects. Something went wrong here."

"When you see Tim Burton's name under a movie title you autimatically know it's on your "to see" list! While many people thought that it was not kid friendly and did not portay the book and other movie well, I thought it was quite good!

The imagery is very clean and although it has a dark twist it does portray the first movie. Johnny Depp was simply brilliant and Mia Wasiskowska played a great Alice. The story line is also very clear.

For children who get scared easily I would not suggest it for children under 8, but it is a great family movie. Except, for the use of decapitated heads in two or three scenes it is overall a fantastic movie!"

"just go and watch it because you will love it i loverd it and it is very funny it isnt like the story version but is a great family film and even better in 3d"

"Tim Burton has managed to bastardize the most beloved characters in all of children's literature (save for the Cheshire Cat. He is as he always was.) I have nothing else positive to say about this abomination."

"Such a good movie! I recommend it to everyone! I didn't want to blink during the movie. It caught my attention so well. The ideas of this movie were so off the charts that it amazed me, a lot! I definitely got a good laugh out of this! Johnny Depp is amazing and played the part of the Mad Hatter very well! It was so much better than the cartoon version."