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Two years after bringing fans the amazing "Tin Man" miniseries, director (and now writer) Nick Willing is trying to see what other literary classic he can recreate in the Syfy event "Alice."

And while it might be hard at times to feel like we've already been there, done that, with the retelling of the "Wizard of Oz," Willing somehow does it again with a dark, yet fun adventure through Wonderland.

The Alice we find in the title role, played by Caterina Scorsone, is completely different from the wide-eyed, pasive girl we remember from the books, and from Willing's previous attempt to bring "Alice in Wonderland" to screen for television audiences in 1999.

This time, Alice is an ass-kicking karate instructor who's not afraid to act, and who's not afraid to love, taking a trip through the Looking Glass just to do both.

"Alice" runs into some problems outside of the production because we're kind of Wonderland happy right now. There is an award-winning musical opening in Tampa, Fla., this weekend called "Wonderland: Alice's New Musical Adventure," which features its own modern-retelling of the story through music. And then we can't forget the Tim Burton version of the story he made for Disney starring Johnny Depp that premieres in March.

But that's OK. Unless you're me and just happen to live in Central Florida, the play isn't going to interfere (in fact, I'm seeing "Wonderland" tonight, and then will be excited when "Alice" premieres Sunday). And unless you're a time-traveler, there shouldn't be much interference from Burton.

And "Alice" is different. Not only is the story strong enough to keep you watching, but one thing the musical and Burton film lack is Kathy Bates.

It's hard to find anything that Bates is not good at, and her role as the "Queen of Hearts" is no exception. You cringe in her presence, not sure how she will react, and then almost feel pity on her when she falls. She also brings a lot of fun to the character as well with the Queen's obvious eccentricities from her extreme narcissism.

Playing a great bumbling foil to her is the King of Hearts, played by "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" alum Colm Meaney. Sadly, there hasn't been a lot of chatter about Meaney in this role, but it's just as fun. In fact, the royal couple come off as the type of bumbling neighbors who would sit out by their inflatable pool in the front yard in the middle of the summer.

And that makes them far more interesting, because those are the neighbors you never want to see in power.

The King and Queen get their wealth and control over the importation of "Oysters." No, not the sea animal, but instead people from our reality who are kidnapped and brought to Wonderland. They are then taken to a 1960s-style casino where they are put through a series of emotions, and "drained" of those emotions, which are then sold on the open market.

It's a far different Wonderland, and it should be. It's been 150 years since the last Alice made it through the Looking Glass, and as we're told by the Hatter (Andrew Lee Potts), she almost brought down the whole "House of Cards."

This was a tough telemovie to preview unfortunately. Typical screeners for the media come through with unfinished special effects and temporary music tracks. In this case, the version of the film released to media was missing a lot of special effects, and used music from ABC's "Lost" that at times was highly distracting from the story.

Luckily, Syfy viewers this weekend won't get that, and instead will see a finished product that is really devoid of distractions, outside of the fact that it will distract you from wanting to see much else on Sunday and Monday.

"Alice" is certainly worth drinking the shrinking potion for, and please drink it because I think Wonderland is going to need all the room it can get for the viewers it will need to welcome this weekend.

What Worked

The story of Alice in Wonderland has been told so many times, it's hard to believe too many people would be interested in watching it all over again over two nights.

Director and writer Nick Willing fixes that by giving us a new version of the story that is much more attuned to today's audience, and is a powerful stop along the yellow brick road that began with "Tin Man."

Caterina Scorsone was the perfect choice for the title role (far better than the casting of Zooey Deschanel as the blank-eyed DG in "Tin Man") bringing beauty and brains to the role. Unlike Deschanel's character, you never felt that Scorsone couldn't handle the different situations, whether it's fighting her way through the Queen's mercenaries, or simply being a wonderful friend for the White Knight, played by Matt Frewer.

Speaking of Frewer, is there anything this man can't do? His White Knight was extremely lovable, and you wanted to both cheer and cry with him depending on the mood. The character looked dull in the original previews for "Alice," but surprised us with his wit and humanity.

There were some great moments you didn't expect which are cleverly hidden in the story, and the casting for this event was phenomenal, even if the roles were small.

Special kudos to Harry Dean Stanton who plays a very interesting version of Caterpillar. Creepy and strange, it was almost as if Stanton -- of "Big Love" fame -- was born for the role.

What Didn't Work

While "Alice" did have some surprises, there were some aspects that were a little too obvious. One particular one was the fate of Jack Chase, the boyfriend played by Philip Winchester, who Alice chases through the Looking Glass.

It seemed almost obvious the role he would play in events.

Also, it seemed at times there was too much effort made to make "Alice" look like a darker, contemporary version of Wonderland. Of course, that had to be done, because that's what this is. But at times it seemed rather forced, and in return, served to distract from the story that was going on.

While it was cool to see Hatter hanging out in the backyard of a "tea" house, and Caterpillar making time on a boat in the middle of a swimming pool, sometimes the sets felt ... cheap.

Syfy has dazzled us with extraordinary settings for shows like "Battlestar Galactica," "Stargate: Atlantis" and "Eureka," which feel like they could really exist. So it can be tough, then, when there were some locales in "Alice" that could've been designed better to meet that high bar already set.

And sadly the scenes with Tim Curry? Snoozer. The idea here was to create some action, but it felt unnecessary, and Curry -- a fun and versatile actor -- was completely underused.

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

"Alice" stars Caterina Scorsone, Kathy Bates, Andrew Lee Potts, Colm Meaney, Matt Frewer, Harry Dean Stanton, Tim Curry and Philip Winchester. It was written and directed by Nick Willing.

Syfy airs "Alice" Dec. 6 and Dec. 7 beginning at 9 p.m. ET.