Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on April 2010

Alice in Wonderland: ©Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved

The last thing I expected from Tim Burton was a dumbing down for the multiplex crowd. And since when did he ever need that annoying 3D? It’s “Burton does Disney” rather than Disney releasing Burton. This “reimagining” of the classic tale works for a while. But then it starts adding other Lewis Carroll stuff, reduces Johnny Depp’s not-that-Mad Hatter to a wan love interest, makes sidekicks out of everyone from the White Rabbit to the Tweedle Brothers, and ends up with a lame action scene in which Alice slays the same CG monster you’ve seen in scores of movies already. Spectacle but no wonder; it’s just not much of a muchness. (108 min)