How do you solve a problem like Alice? If you’re Tim Burton, it’s a recipe that involves a pinch of 3D, a dash of Depp and a pulling back on the reigns in regards to that legendary Burtonesque darkness.

It’s not hard to want to drink the cool aid when it comes to the idea of Tim Burton doing Alice in Wonderland. After Edward Scissorhands, Sleepy Hollow and Sweeney Todd, the Victorian glamour and goth sensibilities of Alice seemed to work perfectly. But at the end of the day, this is not your typical Burton film and that’s what makes it works.

Burtonites have proclaimed this as being his literal and metaphorical Holy Mountain, but instead, it’s his Mean Streets. That is, it’s the subtle one in his cannon as opposed to the balls out, Disney on a bad acid trip that everyone was expecting.

We could talk about Johnny Depp but really, he’s not there. The turn the dial to 11 performances of the past have been tossed aside for a turn that matches the colours and the scenery of the film. Mia Wasikowska radiates the right amount of dazed confusion, an approach which makes the role. They could’ve given it to one of the new big names of Young Hollywood but that would’ve lead to histrionics, fireworks and again, the kind of thing that this film doesn’t seem to be about.

Hell, even the showings in 3D take the process to new levels of subtlety. If you’re like me and needed to take gravol after seeing Avatar, the almost delicate touches of 3D that are all over the film are a breath of fresh air.

At the end of the day, this may not be a masterpiece and it’s certainly not one of Burton’s best, but it holds enough of you attention to guarantee a glorious night out, a rare thing in this day and age of fart jokes and dead parents.