First I really ought to give you a warning about what sort of Alice in Wonderland fan I am. My father read me the books when I was a child, me sitting on his lap in our special rocking chair. When we finished Through the Looking Glass, we started back in again with Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
I do really love Tim Burton's work but to tell you the truth, the idea of him "Burtonizing" my beloved Alice was a bit disturbing. I finally got a chance to watch the movie and in some ways it was what I thought it would be, and in some ways a bit better.
Burton doesn't try to just remake the Alice in Wonderland story, instead he sets this with Alice as a young woman, caught in an uncertain moment in her life as she receives a marriage proposal from a rather banal and un-creative suitor. She thinks Wonderland was a dream, but back she goes down a rabbit hole and interesting things ensure.
The favorite characters from both books are here, including Johnny Depp's crazy eyed Mad Hatter, the White Rabbit, Cheshire Cat, and Red and White Queens. We get to hear Helena Bonham Carter do a wonderful "Off With Her Head!"
They added a lot of strange story in and made up stuff. The White Queen's entire character is really expanded upon along with her little pharmacy where she is cooking up all the concoctions. (I bet she makes the best sleeping pills.). You could tell they had a good time making up a technicolor (and I am sure 3D if you can stand to watch it) world and have a lot of fun with it.
Me, as a purist, well, I guess the best I can say is that it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I'm picky that way.