Alice in Wonderland

Rated PG for some scary moments, fantasy violence

Starring Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway, Crispin Glover, Michael Sheen and Stephen Fry

In this Alice story, Alice is now 19 years old and her father has recently passed. For the past 10 years, she has been having the same "nightmare" where she visits a strange place. She thinks she is going crazy, however her father always told her that "the best people tend to be a little bit!" Her mother accompanies her to a formal outdoor party, which Alice soon learns is to be her engagement party to a boy named Hamish, who's father was partners with her father and now is the sole owner of their trading firm. When Hamish pops the big question in front of all the guests, Alice panics and is distracted by a strange white rabbit she had noticed several times throughout the gathering. She excuses herself and chases after the rabbit and ends up at a rabbit hole and falls in.

Arriving in a strange room, she must figure out the puzzle of how to squeeze through a tiny locked door. Once on the other side, she is greeted by The White Rabbit, a dormouse, a dodo bird, and Tweedledee and Tweedledum. Despite them acting like they know her, she don't recall ever meeting any of them. Confused as to whether The White Rabbit brought them the "right" Alice, they take her to Absolem the Caterpillar to let him decide. See, in this version of Wonderland (or Underland as they say it's called), the evil Red Queen has overthrown her younger sister, the White Queen and has been ruling with an iron fist, offing people's heads for reason or another. And well, Frabjous Day is coming soon and it is told that a hero named Alice will slay the Red Queen's wicked beast - the Jabberwocky, and free everyone from her rule.

"I'm not that Alice! And even if I were, I can't kill anything and I won't!" Alice cries. She also seems convinced that this just her having another one of her nightmares, as the people and place are exactly the same.

Believing that Alice is back, the Queen sends her right hand man - The Knave of Hearts - with the Bandersnatch, Jubjub Bird and solider-like playing cards to retrieve her and stop her. While they capture most of Alice's group, the Cheshire Cat shows up and helps her escape, taking her to the Mad Hatter and March Hare and rejoining her with the dormouse. The Mad Hatter is able to explain to her what went wrong, trying to get her to remember her previous time in Underland ("You were so young back then... you even kept calling this place Wonderland!"). But soon enough, it seems that everyone who comes in contact with Alice gets capture by the Red Queen's lackeys. Before being captured, the Mad Hatter gives her directions to get to the White Queen who can assist her in preparing to fight the Jabberwocky. But Alice would rather rescue the Mad Hatter and innocent beings the Red Queen has captured.

Is this Alice indeed the "right" Alice? Will she end up fighting the Jabberwocky? Will she stay in Underland?

Now some have complained that Tim Burton took the classic Alice stories and turned them upside down. Others have criticized it for being nothing like the original Disney version. What you must understand going into this one is that no, it is not a remake of the classic story nor an adaption. You could almost consider it to be "the next chapter" in the Alice story, as it takes place years after the events of the original stories (which we see in a flashback segment). The characters are all still there, however Wonderland is a much darker place than now than we may recall.

I personally loved it. The story was great, the characters were amusing and the scenery and details were definitely works of art! Oh and there's lessons for everyone that you shouldn't make choices for yourself based on what others think is best. Be responsible and make your choices for you.

Now this film is being offered in both 2D and 3D formats. We saw it in 3D IMAX and while I can't really say if the 3D enhanced it any, the IMAX was well worth it, as it really made you feel like you were in the movie, and this one of those movies where that effect really works great!

Little kids might be a little scared by the Jabberwocky and Bandersnatch, but other than that, this is a great film for a family outing!