Review for Alice in Wonderland Blu-ray + DVD

I have a theory. The writer of this new adaptation of Lewis Carroll's tale, was watching Hook and halfway through flicked to Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe and then finally to the classic Disney version of Alice in Wonderland. Then she said to herself 'Hey that's what we need an update of Alice when she's an adult. That's what people want to watch and I know just the director who can fill it with imagination and wonder!' Sadly, Terry Gilliam wasn't available and so she had to make do with the bizarre over the top Tim Burton and what is possibly the worst excuse for a film I have seen in a long time.
Burton has always been a stylish and imaginative director with films like Beetlejuice and Edward Scissorhands some of the best costume and art direction ever committed to film. However, ever since making Ed Wood in 1994 he seems to have bulldozed from hit to miss to miss to miss. Those who try and justify anything Burton has made since then need only look at his output: Planet of the Apes, Sleepy Hollow, Mars Attacks! Even films like Sweeny Todd and Big Fish were more style over substance and this film was certainly not the return to form that people expected.
This retelling of the story is essentially the plot of Hook or Return to Oz. Alice is now older and believes her previous adventures in wonderland were just a dream. Falling down the rabbit hole again she finds herself in the wonderland that has been destroyed by the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter) who has usurped the White Queen (Anne Hathaway) with the help of the Jabberwocky. Alice encounters the Cheshire Cat, wonderfully voiced by Stephen Fry, rabbit and mouse and the Mad Hatter played by Johnny Depp. It is this performance, essentially the same he gave when playing Willy Wonka that brings the film to a screeching halt. Granted, I get that he trying to portray the madness of the Hatter, but it comes across as forced and ridiculous and sadly rather embarrassing. The film itself is simply a mess. It slices through the Carroll story, throwing characters in with no development and more or less expecting everyone to have watched the Disney original or read the books. It was the equivalent of watching the third part of The Lord of the Rings without knowing anything about what happened in the first two. I'll agree that the film looks wonderful and obviously Danny Elfman's score is as good as usual, but really I felt nothing after watching this film and certainly no inclination to recommend it.
The fact that its main selling point in the cinema was that it was a 3D film, it is odd that they did not include this on the Blu-ray. With only three featurettes on Alice, Depp and the Design you may wonder where all the rest is. I at least expected some further behind the scenes features, a look at the 3D effects or even how the film was adapted. But no, over the DVD and Blu-ray, all that is given is three featurettes that don't really add anything to my enjoyment or indeed fill in any of the blanks as to what Burton was trying to do with this film.
Alice in Wonderland is a film you will either love or hate. If you are a Burton fan (and I am to some extent) you may wonder where all the magic has gone and more importantly, the story. If you're not, and are not swept up in the visuals, then you may wonder what happened to Alice? Because this is certainly one rabbit hole I don't want to fall down again!