Alice in Wonderland (In Glorious 3D!)

Impressions before seeing it
The 3D trailer before Avatar was impressive, Tim Burton usually does interesting things visually, and I'm always up for some fantasy. I was also curious about the story since I'd heard that it is about a 19 year-old Alice's return to Wonderland rather than the traditional first time visit of other adaptations.

How was it?
I know this isn't going to be a popular opinion, but I had a couple of problems with Alice in Wonderland. Now, I have read the original story by Lewis Carroll, and my impression of Wonderland from the book is that it is a world of nonsense and very little to no structure or reason to anything. So why on earth would they, in the movie, have a clearly laid out prophecy on a scroll, thus giving a reason for Alice's presence there and a motive for all of the supposedly crazy characters? I suppose it's a matter of artistic difference, because if I were doing an Alice adaptation it would be completely bonkers and not have much structure or point to it, which admittedly might not make a very good movie but at least it would be more like the book and better capture the overall spirit of Wonderland. This is merely my own opinion and I understand if no one else on the planet agrees with it, so for that reason it's not really a big flaw but a personal gripe.

My other problem is that, like Avatar, I felt that it had some cliche "blockbuster" moments. Maybe I shouldn't go into detail about what they are, being that I saw it on opening night and it's too early for spoilers, but there were too many times where I should have been amazed but wasn't because it felt familiar - and not because it's an adaptation.

But I can't say that I disliked it, I was merely disappointed. On a positive note, there was a lot of really strong character acting from the entire cast, and some very cool visuals (the 3D technology was more stunning in Avatar, but more money was probably spent on that so it's forgivable), and as a whole I still had fun watching it. I was just hoping Tim Burton would understand the source material better.

Recommendation
I doubt most people will have the same problems with it that I did, so go and see it. You'll have fun.