Alice returns

Strong performances and humor lift Tim Burton’s dark Wonderland | Megan Basham

Disney Enterprises, Inc.

Now that the glow of Avatar is fading, director Tim Burton steps up to the plate with another 3-D extravaganza: Alice in Wonderland. A comparison between the two films is unavoidable, not least because Alice earned $116 million in its opening weekend, handily beating the 3-D record of $77 million that Avatar set only months ago. But it's also due to the two films sharing the promise of transporting viewers to magical lands full of astonishing sights.

On this score, Burton's signature spookiness doesn't quite match up to James Cameron's sweeping neon, in part because we've seen this sort of thing from Burton before. While 3-D does give his effects a little more punch, the twisted trees, grotesque creatures, and sinister castles on display here are the same ones audiences saw in Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and other Burton films. They still look cool, just not surprising.