FANS of Tim Burton’s gothic fantasties will likely purr and roll on to their backs like the Cheshire Cat when they see Alice in Wonderland.

Lovers of Lewis Carroll’s novels will be tickled. Children may be blown away by the beautiful rush. The rest of us will be underwhelmed.

The film follows 19-year-old Alice who falls down a rabbit hole and returns to the magical world of her childhood where she meets some eccentric characters including the mad hatter.

The 3D effects work well but, unlike Avatar, there are times when exploding objects and flying tea cups just seem like a gimmick.

Helena Bonham Carter steals the show as the Red Queen.

Natalie Bowyer

SET a few years after her first adventure in Wonderland, a rebellious 19-year-old Alice, who dismisses her childhood adventure as a dream, again falls down the rabbit hole in Tim Burton’s take on the Lewis Carroll classic.

With the barmy Red Queen more despotic than ever, Wonderland (now Underland) has become a darker place and Alice’s old friends champion her return as their salvation.

It all looks very beautiful and bonkers as Burton’s whirly imagination goes ape with the source material, but this sequel concerned with a young woman’s destiny and place in society falls a bit flat as we build to the inevitable clash.

Richard Young