Alice In Wonderland

While i know that most will be saying how much they loved Tim Burton's latest effort, Disney's "Alice In Wonderland", I must tell you this was probably his worst film since "Planet of The Apes". My first problem is the title, it should not be "Alice In Wonderland" because it is not, it is a generically plotted sequel created by Burton. I guess Disney wanted the original title for marketing reasons, but still there are better ways of doing such thing, they could have easily called it "Alice In Wonderland: Through The Looking Glass" or something to make a distinction from the famous story. Then there was the lack of background, the whole time i felt like i should have watched the Disney animated original before, and i was craving backgrounds on my favorites characters from wonderland, which is something i think Burton could have had a lot of fun with. I know i am not the only person who wanted to know how the Caterpillar became an addict.
Next comes the plot (spoiler alert), this film is about an outsider that comes to a tormented state, defeats a dragon, and puts the rightful ruler in place. ARE YOU SERIOUS. Teen movies have more original plots, you know whats going to happen 30 mins into the movie. Now on to Johnny Depp, arguably the best actor without an Oscar, and is known for going deep into character to create something unique and captivating. The Mad Hatter is probably the worst performance he has given in 20 years, now you could blame the writing, but he is talented enough to overcome such set backs (Chocolat). The character was flat, looked like he was in kabuki makeup, totally sane, and not very funny. The character also had this weird Scottish voice that he kept going in and out of, and it did not make him seem delightfully mad (which is what he is suppose to be), but really very weird ( weird like the kid in high school that wont take a shower after gym, not cool weird). Then to top it all off, there is a dance he does at the end of the film that almost made me ask for my money back.
Now i know that i won't be in the majority on this, but i was also not that crazy about the set. It was good for for most films, but i feel if they had gone the other way and tried to create the sets it could have been much more awe inspiring. Crispin Glover's animation was a little off too.
There were some great parts in this film also. Mia Wasikowska who plays Alice is amazing, she hit her character spot on changing from a frustrated girl to a strong young woman. It would be easy to say that most men would want to purpose to her by the end of the film. Helen Bonham Carter was the stand out of the film with her big head, hilarious cruelty, and surprising girlishness, shown in a scene on a balcony with Crispin Glover. This film really makes me wish we saw her in more things other than her partner's movies. The last part of the film i am going to praise are the scenes outside of Wonderland. They were spectacular, they were excellently written with very dry humor and these were also the most beautiful scenes visually. Each shot looks like it could have been a rococo painting.
My suggestion to all is to go see the film since everyone else is but don't pay extra for 3D. And don't let all the pretty colors fool you. we should expect much more from Depp and Burton.