Tim Burton is an interesting director. His style is far more bizarre and unusual than most directors. You can tell how off-beat his style is when you watch movies like Beatlejuice, Batman, Corpse Bride, Sweeney Todd, and now, Alice in Wonderland. Even when he's producing movies, his style is very evident in the movies that he's involved with, like A Nightmare Before Christmas.
Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland is basically a kind of a retelling of the original story by Lewis Carroll. In Tim Burton's version, Alice(Mia Wasikowska) is about to be proposed to by a stiff-ass British....dude, when she notices a strange White Rabbit(voiced by Michael Sheen) wearing a waist-coat. She follows the rabbit and falls into a hole. She winds up in a strange land inhabited by strange creatures and talking animals. She eventually meets the Cheshire Cat(voiced by Stephen Fry, in a brilliant performance). But something is amiss as some think that she's the wrong Alice, despite it being her dream. Then she's meets two strange fat little twins named Twiddle Dee and Twiddle Dum(Matt Lucas). Then she's attacked by a strange creature called the Bandersnatch and chased by Red Card Knights and the Knave of Hearts(Crispin Glover). She eventually runs into the Mad Hatter(Johnny Depp), who wants to help the White Queen(Anne Hathaway) defeat the evil Queen of Hearts(Helena Bonham Carter).
It's definitely a different take on Lewis Carroll's story, but Tim Burton's vision and direction really make it work. The performances of all the actors also help bring this fantastic world to life. Johnny Depp's turn as the Mad Hatter is nothing short of brilliant, even though the actor is known for playing bizarre characters. But he does it very well. He even changes accents at random from a lispy English accent to a brash Scottish accent. It doesn't even LOOK like Johnny Depp, with the wild make-up, contacts and hairdo. He completely disappears into the character. The other actor I should mention, even though he doesn't make a physical appearance is Stephen Fry as the Cheshire Cat. He's somewhat soft-spoken and somewhat subtle but also playful and has very dry sense of humor. Overall, the acting in the film is amazing, even the voice work.
This being a Tim Burton film, you would expect the environments and characters in Alice in Wonderland to be somewhat....twisted. He does not disappoint in this regard, as the environments have a more dark and unusual vibe and appearance, than in Disney's original film. The way the characters are designed are just as incredible. From the Bandersnatch to the dragon-like Jabberwocky, each character has a distinct personality and look that really place them in such a bizarre world. Some of this stuff can be a little....creepy. So it would be best for children to watch this film with parents...just in case, but it is a PG film.
What also helps in this film is the music, and Danny Elfman really pulls out the stops here. As far as I'm concerned, Danny Elfman is basically an extension of Burton as those two are two peas in a pod. They're both equally bizarre. And seeing as how Danny Elfman has basically done the music for most, if not all, of Tim Burton's films, it was a really good choice as the music has an epic feel to it, particularly during the final battle, and it seems like only someone like Elfman could pull off.
I could honestly say that there really are no pacing issues. I think some of the performances could've been handled better, and that Johnny Depp's character can sometimes ALMOST go off the deep end. But, overall this film is incredible in almost every way, with some of the most unique CGI I've seen, this movie is a spectacle. It's fun, funny, action-packed, and somewhat twisted. Only Tim Burton can pull off a film like this and not have it be a crappy film. I give Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland a 9.5/10.
