The best installment of the series thanks to some absolutely mind blowing action scenes, good acting, and an incredible style.

Not the classic I've heard some people call it. However, it's still a good movie led by great performances and complex characters.

One of the most fun movies in my collection. It has the comedy and action that you want from this kind of movie and the plot is strong enough to make it great.

Strengths: Tim Burton is always one to make sure his odd worlds come to life in pretty spectacular ways. He made sure this movie was a visual marvel. It absolutely feels like exactly the movie he would make. Most of the cast looks to be having a good time and giving strong performances. Helena Bonham Carter (Red Queen) has a blast and possibly steals the show. She's over the top in the right kind of way. Johnny Depp (Mad Hatter) is fine, while Anne Hathaway (White Queen) does a good job. Alan Rickman (Blue Caterpillar) is the best of a solid cast of voice actors.

Weaknesses: I don't believe Mia Wasikowska (Alice Kingsleigh) was quite ready to lead a movie like this. Her performance leaves a lot to be desired. It's not flat out bad but it doesn't feel big enough for the character. They also went way heavy handed on trying to point out how much of an oddity she was in her world. I get that's important but don't beat us over the head with it. I also feel that while Burton did well to create dazzling visuals, it almost is too much. It's as if he tried too hard to make those special and it took away from the script and the characters. Most of them move in and out without ever giving us a real reason to care about them. That all made for a plot that never clicked as well as the original and even that was one that I never found to be anything special.

Overall: Tim Burton made a movie that looked good, but was hollow inside.

Zac Efron and Lily Collins give great performances, doing enough to lift a movie with a muddled narrative