Johnny Depp. Helena Bonham Carter. Anne Hathaway. Alan Rickman. Barbara Windsor. Stephen Fry. Crispin Glover. Matt Lucas.

No, it’s not a cast list for some twisted version of ‘Love Actually’, that’s the cast list for Tim Burton’s new 3D spectacular ‘Alice in Wonderland’.

Now on my visit to the cinema to see this, I already had in mind the idea that many other reviews had stated that Burton should have stuck to the original plot. I’m not going to give anything away, but I will say that I pretty much loved the change in plot. It was nice to see a re-make that wasn’t so much of a re-make. Fabulous.

Depp and Bonham Carter do as great a job as they always do. Nothing can top what they did together in Sweeney Todd, but their roles as the Mad Hatter and the Queen of Hearts were pretty much flawless.

One performance I really was impressed with was Anne Hathaway as the White Queen. She was actually pretty great, and I’ve never been a huge fan of hers. Brits Barbara Windsor and Stephen Fry showcased their vocal acting skills to perfection as the feisty Dormouse and the creepy Cheshire Cat.

The effects were as magical as the plotline: on several occasions it actually felt like the Cheshire Cat was staring you right in the eye. The cutest things I have ever seen were the toad henchmen of the evil Queen, who made the movie for me. It’s always the subtleties that capture your heart when it comes to movies. For example, the intertwining of the Jub Jub bird and the frumious Bandersnatch alongside Carroll’s ‘Jabberwocky’ within the movie were great, especially when you’re a fan of literature.

I’m struggling to think of words to describe how I feel about this film. I think I’m going to have to take a leaf out of Lewis Carroll’s book and describe it as ‘yunteringly, filooberously whimzery with a trolk of billugering’. Definitely the best 3D film so far this year.

Make of that what you will.

Overall Rating: 8 out of 10.