What happens when Tim Burton falls down the rabbit hole?

Tim Burton, the same Gothic yet kooky filmmaker who brought viewers the ghoulish The Nightmare Before Christmas and the sharp minded Edward Scissorhands now brings them a tale he was practically born to bring to the screen; Alice in Wonderland.
Where most book-to-film have the director retell the stories for the moviegoer audience, Burton decides to play by his own set of rules. The books Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass , both written by Lewis Carroll, told the adventures of Alice Kingsley falling down a rabbit hole and entering the eccentric world of Underland. Burton chooses not to simply tell the stories straight from the books, but instead have Alice (Mia Wasikowska) take one more fall down the rabbit hole in order to save Underland from the clutches of the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter).
Taking the lead is something Wasikowska slowly adjusts to for a decent part of the movie's first half, but she doesn't leave the audience with a boring role. Carter is no pushover either in giving her villainous character a personality similar to that of a whiny child with control issues who is pitted against her soft and sweet sister, the White Queen (Anne Hathaway). Burton of course brings one of his best good-luck charms to the film in the form of Johnny Depp who takes the cake as the role of the Mad Hatter; a true Rubic's Cube of emotions.
Underland (or Wonderland as it's more commonly regarded) is a world Burton explores with deep passion for detail and creativity to flora and fauna alike. Unfortunately, the visual effects are downgraded when it comes to many of the animal designs, feeling much more like great cartoons than fuzzy creatures.
A more animated style would suggest to parents this would be a golden film for children's entertainment. Sadly, this would not be the case. A PG rating is much deserved in such a film where even briefly glanced at eye gouging and decapitation is both unnecessary and recurring. Even coming from a story with the well-remembered line "Off with their heads!", the film would appear to have forgotten that the stories are more cherished with children with broad imaginations than adults looking for realism.
A bold take on this classic book is something fans may appreciate in exploring these famous characters deeper. But parents should not be fooled into thinking such a colourful world with child-like characters would serve their children well. They'd likely emerge with ghostly faces identical to that of Depp's make-up job.

RATING: 6.5/10