'Alice Through The Looking Glass' is the sequel to 2010's Tim Burton live-action adaptation based on the book by Lewis Carroll and stars Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, and Sacha Baron Cohen. The 2010 film was fun while it lasted in the theater, but ultimately it fell flat by the end and was completely forgotten by me and my friends not long after. How does this trip back to Wonderland fare? I think better but I seem to be in the minority. Let us begin the madness shall we?
Alice Kingsleigh (Wasikowska) has returned from a trip to China for various goods on her father's ship when things for her begin to crumble. Her scorned ex-fiance Hamish has re-married and tries to manipulate Alice and her mother into giving up their property and her father's ship. Alice's troubles lead her back to Wonderland, where she has learned of a dying Mad Hatter (Depp). She hopes to gain help from Time himself (Cohen) who warns her of the dangers of tampering with time. His warnings go unheeded, leading Alice down a path of time travel and learning to gain knowledge from the past rather than try to change it.
The time travel lesson film cliche has been used many times before, however I believe 'Alice' works with it better than others. I think the characters are much better this time around as well. I enjoyed the backgrounds of all the Wonderland characters, with the relationship between the Red Queen and her sister being the strongest of the bunch. It connects all of the other stories in the film together, despite the film's insistence through media coverage that the Hatter is the key. He is definitely the catalyst that starts the story, however it only leads down an even further rabbit hole that is quite revealing.
However, while being in the minority of 'Pro Looking Glass' as of this writing it is not all for the better. As I said earlier the cliches present throughout are done better than some, but they still stick out badly. For one, the film is dare I say too short for this kind of story leading it to feel a bit rushed. Time himself was not patient with this film's writing and it's not a good thing. Many parts of these characters backgrounds could have been explored much deeper, however they had to keep it fast with the visuals on max to keep children from being bored. (A major problem in too many family films nowadays) The lessons the film tries to teach, while a good one is pretty cheesy and somehow feels forced in a movie about time-travel. Finally, this really didn't have to be Wonderland to be an entertaining film which may have led to the negative reception. You could barely tell any of this even took place if not for the characters' names.
'Alice Through The Looking Glass' is entertaining for sure, and much better than the first film. However, it has many many flaws that will bog it down for some and may even go over others. Really though, they should have just used the plot for something else other than 'Alice in Wonderland'. Marquee value at its finest for sure. Overall, I enjoyed the film and I recommend it to you as well. Take what you want from it, but don't expect something amazing. Just join in on the madness for an hour and a half and have fun with it.
I give 'Alice Through The Looking Glass' a C+
Rated PG (Fantasy Violence, Scary Scenes)
All images are the property of the Walt Disney Company
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