Quick Review: Alice in Wonderland

I was disappointed by Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland." I thought it would be a lot more silly and ridiculous. Visually, it mostly lived up to expectations. But the rest failed to excite me much. Here, Alice is 19 and attending a party that takes an unexpected turn -- to Alice, but not to anyone else at the party -- when she receives a marriage proposal. She runs off, falls down a rabbit hole and is back in Wonderland. Except it's called "Underland," and Alice doesn't remember being there before, so when she encounters the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp), the Cheshire cat, etc., she is taken aback. It seems that "Underland" is suffering, as the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter) has taken control from her sister, the White Queen (Anne Hathaway), and that Alice must help defeat the Red Queen, and...what the hell? It's Alice in Wonderland, with Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, and it's supposed to be crazy and wild -- I repeat -- WILD! Instead, much of the time it's sad, restrained and almost dull. Where's the fun? My grade: B-minus.