I expected this installment to be better than it's two previous chapters especially because of the series it's the best book, but it's also the best use of the cast -- the vampire/werewolf war ensues but it doesn't deviate from the love story at the center of the story. Fans will approve, everyone else will not be bored.
It appears that if anyone should have been allocated the task of re-inventing the world of Alice and her trip to Wonderland, Tim Burton was the only director suited to do it! His amazingly textured film is equal fairy tale and still macabre in it's vision -- exactly what fans have come to expect from Burton and his work. The performances are never lost and only enhanced by the flick's special effects. In 2d or 3D the film is a masterpiece to behold!
Certainly the marketing machine that has been behind this film is enough to have earned it the huge opening number figures that it did, but the film itself doesn't leave much meet on the bone -- the story is thin and quickly becomes trite -- leaving you grasping and hoping for anything...anything to make it feel worth the time and energy. I good effort!