Saw this in Digital, not IMAX. The movie started out lackluster, rather trite, and boring. The dialogue was poor, and the acting of all but the now aged 17-19 Alice seemed forced. Once in Wonderland however THAT got better. The GCI didn't seem to have much detail or depth. The colors were washed out in all but the Cat and dormouse. The animation of Stain/The Knave of Hearts was ludicrous and choppy. I think that the studio spent more time on the bloodhound & whatever that other furry monster thing was that was guarding the Vorpal Blade. Overall this reminded me of a made-for-tv movie from the recently dubbed SyFy Channel. While a fan of Depp, even his acting was sloppy and poorly written. Perhaps it might at least look better in IMAX 3D.
While the stories are borrowed from other films, especially Cameron's own, it's a whole new wrapper. The telling of those stories, so wonderfully entwined into one makes all the difference and puts a whole new way of making movies out there for other directors to use. The directing and the writing is great. The technology behind the special effects create such wonderful visual effects that does nothing but add to the acting ability of most of the cast. IMAX 3D gives so much to those effects that it almost makes me weep at how much even the BluRay DVD on a 60" will pale in comparison.