Alice in Wonderland (2010)Movie Reviews

See this movie in Alice in Wonderland An IMAX 3D Experience in IMAX 3D Alice in Wonderland in Disney Digital 3D in Digital 3D

Gifts + Promos

Want a free ticket?

Alice in Wonderland Merchandise at Hottopic.com! Shop Tees, Jewelry & More.

Limited Edition Alice In Wonderland Fandango Bucks Gift Cards! Makes a great gift or souvenir.

Give the gift of movies with Fandango Bucks Gift Certificates! Design your own gift card, or choose from our collection.

Superhero fans! Don’t miss out on these Limited Edition Avengers gift cards!

Need Help?

So-so

Avg. Critic Score: 53 out of 100 Mixed or average reviews Metascore^® based on all critic reviews

Information for Parents:

Iffy for 10+

Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

90

The Hollywood Reporter | Michael Rechtshaffen
A fantastical romp that proves every bit as transporting as that movie about the blue people of Pandora, his "Alice" is more than just a gorgeous 3D sight to behold. Read full review
88

USA Today | Claudia Puig
When it comes to 3-D visual splendors, give me Wonderland over Pandora any day. Read full review
75

Washington Post | Ann Hornaday
Burton finely balances excess and restraint to create an absorbing, visually rich world of his very own. Read full review
75

Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert
"Alice" plays better as an adult hallucination, which is how Burton rather brilliantly interprets it until a pointless third act flies off the rails. Read full review
63

Rolling Stone | Peter Travers
Still, even Disney and a PG rating can't bury Burton's subversive wit. Like Carroll, he's a master at dressing up psychic wounds in fantasy. Read full review
50

Variety | Todd McCarthy
For all its clever design, beguiling creatures and witty actors, the picture feels far more conventional than it should; it's a Disney film illustrated by Burton, rather than a Burton film that happens to be released by Disney. Read full review
50

Entertainment Weekly | Owen Gleiberman
In the film's rather humdrum 3-D, the place doesn't dazzle - it droops. Read full review
40

The New York Times | Manohla Dargis
Busy, garish and periodically amusing. Read full review
40

Los Angeles Times | Kenneth Turan
It has its successful moments but it's surprisingly inert overall, more like a Burton derivative than something he actually did himself. Read full review
25

San Francisco Chronicle |
Its single biggest failing - an affront to Lewis Carroll and the charms of nonsense literature - is that it makes sense. Read full review

Metacritic link View more reviews for Alice in Wonderland (2010) on Metacritic

Information for Parents

Common Sense Media says Iffy for 10+ All-new 3-D Alice story is trippy and intense.

What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland might be rated PG, but it's pretty intense and scary at times for younger kids, especially because it's in 3-D. This trippy adaptation -- in which Alice is a young adult -- includes some fantasy violence with scary monsters that attack people, a cruel Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter) who frequently sentences people to death, and a climactic battle scene between sword-brandishing humans, animals, and beasts. Some parents might want to know that a caterpillar (played by Alan Rickman) smokes a hookah, but this is as Lewis Carroll depicted the character. The language includes taunting insults like "stupid," "imbecile," "idiot," "bloody," and the like, and the sexuality is limited to one kiss between a married man and another woman and some aggressive flirting.

Families can talk about Alice's nonconformist attitude. How does she buck cultural expecations? In what ways does her adventure in "Underland" change Alice?
What do you think about Mr. Kingsleigh, and later Alice's adage that "all the best people" are a bit "mad"? What do you think the Mad Hatter means that things are only impossible if you believe them to be?
The Red Queen is cruel but sad. What are some reasons she's so mean? Are there compelling reasons to be angry at her younger sister, the White Queen?
Those familiar with the Lewis Carroll books: Compare this version with the original source and other adaptations. Do you like this Alice as a much older heroine?

The good stuff

Positive messages: The Red Queen's cruelty, jealousy, and insecurity end up costing her everything, proving that she's wrong when she asserts that it's "better to be feared than to be loved." Alice and her Underland friends are all loyal to each other and to the cause of overthrowing the evil Red Queen -- all are willing to make sacrifices to ensure that the Red Queen is defeated. Alice confirms the belief that to dream, to believe in the impossible, to believe in your own abilities and potential, is actually a very wise thing to do.
Positive role models: Alice, like all heroes, must learn to believe in herself to finally defeat the Jabberwocky and save Underland from the tyranny of the Red Queen. She's an excellent example to young girls, because she doesn't follow her sister and mother's advice to rely on her looks to land a high-class husband. Instead, she trusts her instincts and confronts her fears to emerge a powerful champion, a defeater of evil, a friend and ally to an entire world. And when she returns to regular London, she makes a decision that goes against cultural norms of her day, but that is ultimately much better for her future.

What to watch for

Violence: The Red Queen is quite bloodthirsty and frequently sentences people to death, yelling "Off with their heads!" She makes comments like "I love morning execution, don't you?" and sends scary creatures to do her bidding. A scary dog-like creature called the Bandersnatch suddenly attacks, chasing and pouncing on the Tweedle twins. Since these sequences are in 3-D, they're especially intense. There's a moat filled with cut-off heads and potions filled with severed fingers. People are scratched and nearly killed, an executioner is shown about to lower the axe on someone, and in the end, a creature is decaptitated.
Sex: Alice catches her brother-in-law kissing a woman who's not his wife; Alice and Hamish dance, and he proposes to her. The Knave of Hearts pushes an overgrown Alice against a wall and says he likes her, because he likes "largeness." The Red Queen acts smitten with the Knave of Hearts.
Language: Mild taunts and insults like "imbeciles," "idiots," "bloody" (in the British sense), "stupid," "big head," "lunatic," and "fat."
Consumerism: Not an issue
Drinking, drugs and smoking: Absalom the smoking caterpillar does just that -- smoke a hookah -- in three different scenes. The Red Queen and her court seem to drink something that looks like wine at a meal.

Common Sense Media An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.