Alice in Wonderland – Dir Tim Burton, starring Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham-Carter, Mia Wasikowska

The directorial king of fantasy and pure fiction, Tim Burton, is back in the chair with the highly anticipated and much hyped arrival of his 3D Alice.

Our heroine (Wasikowska) is a headstrong 19-year-old who attends a party at a Victorian estate shortly after the death of her beloved father. She spots a white rabbit in a waistcoat, runs after it, tumbles down a rabbit-hole, and re-enters Wonderland – a place she’d completely forgotten about visiting ten years before.

This time Alice, who meets all Wonderland’s inhabitants once more, accepts her destiny as she’s told she’s the only one who can slay the Jabberwock – a menacing dragon who terrorises the land under the rule of the Red Queen.

With the addition of 3D visual wizardry, Burton’s creation is a truly out-of-this-world experience. With surreal effects and a plethora of stars acting out Lewis Carroll’s original dreamlike tale, this adaptation is a brilliantly dark, well crafted piece of modern fantasy. But then, what else would you expect from Tim Burton?