Tim Burton really needs to do something different.

I've watched the trailer for Tim Burton's upcoming Alice in Wonderland and I took from it an overwhelming feeling of the same old thing being trotted out again. Johnny Depp in elaborate makeup in another kooky performance, a lot of vaguely Gothic imagery, and Helena Bonham Carter thrown in for good measure. Here we go again.

I used to love the films of Tim Burton, back when I was a wee nipper I had Batman, Beetle Juice, and Edward Scissorhands on VHS and watched them all so very many times. When I was older, I discovered the exceptional Ed Wood on TV one night, and that's remained one of my favorite films of all time ever since. But these days I find that the nicest thing I have to say about Burton in conversation is that he's very hit and miss. Where did he go wrong?

His Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was extremely disappointing, it was a poor film that lacked all of the charm and all of the heart that the 1971 film, and Depp's portrayal of Willy Wonka had none of the character that Gene Wilder's had. For all Burton's dark overtones and style, it's mostly on the surface, because his version was far less frightening, the infamous boat journey with Wilder singing "Yes the danger must be growing..." still sticks with me.

For me, I'd say Tim Burton's last great film was Big Fish, and it highlights such how phenomenal a director he can be when he steps outside his comfort zone. Ewan McGregor as the lead, instead of the usual Johnny Depp, also works greatly to the benefit of the film, distancing it from his usual fare. There's some so completely moving and heartwarming about the mythic stories, and the strained relationship between father and son is as powerful and as touching as any other drama I could care to mention.

Since then he's made the aforementioned Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Corpse Bride, and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Corpse Bride I found particularly dull and tired, but I have to admit that I did quite enjoy Sweeney Todd, because it's a significantly darker film than most of Burton's work, but it's still a case of him singing the same old song, the style all too reminiscent of his previous work, a Tim Burton film by numbers. Without the blood and song, it just doesn't stand out.

While the frequent collaboration with Johnny Depp is part of the reason I find his films getting so tiresome, it was their second outing together Ed Wood that was the strongest for both of them. Again, it steps out of Burton's comfort zone, ditches the faux-gothic veneer, and come out as easily his strongest picture, an emotionally rich biography of Edward D Wood Jr. that has more feeling than any other I could mention. Depp's portrayal of the cult B-movie director is one of tragic optimism, and I'd say a performance he has never yet matched, and it's a film that in nearly 15 years Tim Burton hasn't been able to match.

No doubt Alice in Wonderland will be a success, but I'm not holding out any optimism for it personally, I can't help looking at the trailer and pictures from the film without feeling disappointed in advance, or thinking that it's yet another book after the awful Chocolate Factory affair that's been homogenized into the usual Burton/Depp Gothic claptrap. Tim really needs to do something different, challenge himself, because he is a capable and talented director, but seems complacent in his mediocre output as of late.

I'm not saying different will automatically be better, because after all, his Planet of the Apes was something that ventured away from his usual and that was terrible, although that was a remake, which never bodes well. And I'm not really saying that the same old thing is necessarily bad, as I thoroughly enjoyed Sleepy Hollow for all it's usual Burton-esque qualities. But right now, I find myself losing respect for an artist that doesn't stretch himself, like a painter painting the same picture over and over, and for someone who was one of my favorite directors at one stage, I do believe Tim Burton quite desperately needs to do something different.