By Peter Covino
Entertainment Editor

What would Walt do?

Walt Disney was just like a big kid when it came to innovations and you have to think with the newest golden age of 3D upon us, he would have been at the front of the line having his animators testing the limits of their creativity to come up with some really amazing movies.

If he were alive, he may have even released a 3D version of Alice in Wonderland ahead of Tim Burton.

 
 

Burton, a Disney disciple  born in Burbank, Ca., has released some imaginative films over the past 25 years (Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice, Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, Ed Wood) and he also has been part of some serious clunkers (Planet of the Apes, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory).  His highly anticipated Alice in Wonderland, falls somewhere in between his best and worst efforts.

James Cameron, for sure, has nothing to worry about. His Avatar is a far better 3D film than Burton's Alice.

This is a sequel of sort's to Disney's Alice, borrowing from Lewis Carroll's story as well adding some new ingredients. The adult Alice (Mia Wasikowska) has been to Wonderland (frequently called Underland in the new film) before. She has been having the same dream since she was a child — white rabbits, tea cups, evil queens, etc. Now that she is 19 in Victorian England, her future has been planned, and early in the story, she is supposed to say “yes” to a proposal of marriage to a stuffy gent at a really big garden party.

With everyone watching, she needs to think about it for a minute and runs off and winds up stumbling down that hole again, after following that elusive White Rabbit.

And now Tim Burton's party really starts, and just about everyone you know from the Disney classic is there: the Cheshire Cat, the caterpillar, Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee, the Mad Hatter and Wild Hare, the already mentioned White Rabbit and, of course, the Red Queen.

It all looks just like it does as the previews you have seen on TV and the PC. And that isn't necessarily a good thing. There really isn't anything too magical about this Alice in Wonderland. The pieces are all there, but it is strictly formula stuff — the wow factor is sadly lacking.

Top-billed Johnny Depp returns yet again in another quirky guise as the Mad Hatter, but we have seen bits of this before, only the make-up has changed. And what is going on with that accent? It changes so much, it is like Depp is channeling Kevin Costner in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves with a bit of Robert Shaw's  crazed Quint from Jaws. And that stupid break dance he does at film's finale is almost wretched.

Faring better is Burton's other favorite co-star, Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen. She seems to be reveling in her role as the evil queen, who like's nothing better to forcibly remove the head of all of her disloyal subjects.

Also nicely realized is the Cheshire Cat (voiced by Stephen Fry).
But for the most part, the rest of the cast barely does justice to both Carroll's highly imaginative book or Disney's original film.

There are, amazingly enough, parts of Burton's film where boring is the only word that seems to fit.
Maybe it shouldn't be surprising that Alice in Wonderland, as a 3D film, doesn't even get close to the wonder of Avatar. But Burton had in his hands one of the visionary classics of all time. He should have gotten closer to the mark.

 Critic's rating: C+

Alice in Wonderland is rated PG-13

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Speaking of classics, there should be something magical indeed when The Lord of the Rings Trilogy in Blu-ray debuts April 6 from Warner Bros. The nine-disc set features all three films (plus digital copies of each)  in their original theatrical release versions with more than seven hours of bonus features. Extended versions of the trilogy will be released on Blu-ray at a later date.
The Blu-ray release will precede Warners release of The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn’s Quest video game launch.