By Alexis Guerra

Famed director and visionary, Tim Burton, is notorious for taking the twisted and abnormal and manufacturing it into works of art so incredibly thought-provoking and full of human content that people from all walks of life can relate to it. No stranger to movie remakes, his last attempt, (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) met a sea of mixed reviews and didn’t quite hit the mark with audiences.   Still, once the buzz of the acclaimed and eagerly awaited Alice in Wonderland thundered onto preview screens and movie posters, it became clear that a winner had emerged. I had the pleasure of seeing this movie last weekend in 3D and it lived up to all the hype it garnered from an entertainment perspective. Burton’s astounding visuals and menagerie of zany fractured Lewis Carroll characters are given new depth and life as we re-enter a world where the Red Queen (played by comical Burton muse, Helena Bonham Carter and sporting a larger than life dome of a head) has overthrown her sister, the White Queen, (a pristine and angelic, Anne Hathaway) and the only way to bring back peace and order to Wonderland is to have Alice (now nineteen years of age and played by a perfect Mia Wasikowska) slay the evil Jabberwocky.

Those intent upon seeing a remake of the original Disney version will be sadly disappointed as the story now takes place some time in the future and Alice’s past adventures are only touched on in flashbacks. Still, Burton manages to take all of Carroll’s beloved characters adored by generations and rather than alter them, instead finds a way to breath new life into them. Johnny Depp’s Mad Hatter comes through as a moral compass to Wasikowska’s bewildered Alice, proving through his madness that he is capable of empathy and emotion. Other lovable past creatures (a mischievous spot-on Cheshire Cat, befuddled twins Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, and the cantankerous yet wise caterpillar are just a few others we encounter along the journey) who also offer their advice to the puzzled heroine as she makes her way through the labyrinth known as Wonderland in order to save her new-found friends and make her way home again.

There were a few moments where the material seemed geared for a younger audience and a few lagging transitions, but overall Alice and Wonderland was a fantastical romp through a classic children’s tale but with a welcomed fresh eye and edge to it. In the words of the White Queen, Burton has truly created a “Champion”.