Director: Tim Burton

I was really excited to see the new "Alice in Wonderland" movie. There's many reasons. As always, Johnny Depp in a sexy hat will have every woman in the free world stampeding the cinemas to see it. Not to mention Tim Burton is one of my favorite directors in the movie world. And on top of all that, I've loved "Alice in Wonderland" since I was five and watched the Disney movie. What's not to love about a crazy hatter, a disappearing cat, and a queen that enjoys chopping heads off? I went with a very good friend of mine who's as much, if not more, of an Alice buff, as I am, which always makes for great criticism afterwords. To top ALL the excitement, it was in 3-D! Way to go Tim Burton!

I looked at the cast list and my heart dropped, though. Anne Hathaway as the White Queen? Oh come on! When is this woman going to man up and stop playing roles of royalty? Alright, I'll admit she was slightly decent in the first "Princess Diaries" but really? Not the greatest actress on the face of the planet. And her performance in the movie was exactly as I thought it would be. Mediocre at best. Annoying at the worst. What the hell was up with her hands fluttering around all the time? I think Tim Burton was smoking something a little more than cigarettes when he made that decision. Here's a character that's supposed to represent good, to the Red Queen's evil, and they made her into a complete weirdo. Anne Hathaway just pisses me off as an actress on every level. So I'll stop here with her, because I don't want to fly into a rant on her inadequate acting abilities.

Johnny Depp as The Mad Hatter was brilliant! Though it's not an uncommon thing for almost any of his movie roles, barring "The Astronaut's Wife" but then again, that was just a bad movie all around. Moving on. His performance was amazing. I have no idea how he gets so into character, but he does, and it shows entirely! THIS Mad Hatter was more specific to the book. I enjoyed the Disney version, but Tim Burton's Hatter was more to the point. A crazy, but very lovable, hatter. I do wish the door mouse would have been a bit more drunkish, but he was still acceptable! And when he ripped the eye from the Bandersnatch? Brilliant!

The Red Queen and Stayne were decent characters, but I wish the queen would have been a bit more comical. Then again, this is a Tim Burton film, so... Yeah. That's all I have to say against that...

The movie as an overall doesn't rate very well with me, though. Granted, I love the movie, I just think it's an tired and antiquated theme that Tim Burton tied to spice up, but only got half way to the bar. The movie was emotionally cold, and Tim Burton made the mistake of simply taking his normal style and flashing it into a Disney movie. I'd hate to see what he did with something like "Aladdin" or "Cinderella" Though... Cinderella might be interesting..

I recommend the movie, simply because I thought it was great, however, there seems to be something lacking from the entire thing.