Besides the visual effects, which were great, the story of Alice as a young woman who is being pressured into a life she doesn't want and using Wonderland to symbolically defeat her oppressors was a creative and entertaining way of presenting the story. It's a little predictable and less whimsical then I remember the story being but it was pretty good by today's standards.
In some ways this had the feel of a Terry Gilliam film where you're not sure what is fantasy and what is reality. This was Scorsese's first attempt at a film like this and he did a great job. I think the only disappointing part was the end of the film which left you feeling very sorry for DiCaprio's character and was predictable because it was broadcast to us.