Just read through the prairie dog‘s review of Alice in Wonderland, and I can agree on this much: this movie falls flat.
Burton seems to have just given up on making a film that’s even entertaining. When Alice is amusing, he fouls it up and destroys any semblance of tone he’s build. (SPOILER EXAMPLE: There’s a breakdance routine.)
The movie is frustratingly inconsistent in how it imagines Wonderland visually and as a place. The contradiction of a too-concrete world divorced from reality would be impressive if it didn’t drive me fucking nuts.
Burton normally succeeds visually – just think of the wonderfully-shot black and white Ed Wood or the contrasting broken-down mansion and suburban ideal in Edward Scissorhands. The visuals in Alice show the same indecision that damn the rest of the of this movie. He can’t decide whether to make the film a more realistic Alice in Wonderland or a complete flight of fancy.
Plus, they run a song sung by Avril Lavigne about Alice over the credits. C’mon – that’s just adding insult to injury.