Year: 2016
Director: James Bobin
Starring: Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Sacha Baron Cohen, and Anne Hathaway
Tagline: This spring, it's time for a little madness
Synopsis: Alice returns to Underland and travels through time in order to save the Mad Hatter.
Tagline: This spring, it's time for a little madness
Synopsis: Alice returns to Underland and travels through time in order to save the Mad Hatter.
Review
Meh. That pretty much sums up how I feel about Alice Through the Looking Glass. It's not terrible. I didn't hate it. I've seen far worse movies. It was mildly diverting, but in a year's time I'll have forgotten all about it.
The visuals are impressive and the world of Underland is certainly richly imagined. The music is also good. But visual splendor and a nice accompaniment do not a good film make. There's really no justification for this film's existence. The story is contrived and strung together and has absolutely nothing to do with Lewis Carroll's novel of the same name.
The film opens interestingly enough, with the end of Alice's voyage around the world as she returns to London. It's dramatic and shows off Alice's character and strengths. Alice does remain a strong and likable character throughout the film, but apparently not much goes on in Underland unless she is around. The other characters are literally just sitting around a table waiting for her to show up, which she does at Absalom's request (he's the blue caterpillar turned butterfly voiced by the late Alan Rickman).
From there we learn that the Hatter has lost his "muchness" and the only way to save him is to go back in time and save his family. What could possibly go wrong with trying to change the past? As it turns out, time is personified as Time, played by Sacha Baron Cohen. Time pretty much steals every scene he is in and is the most interesting character in the film. He has a number of good lines and quite a few puns at his expense (e.g., the March Hare sits next to him and quips, "Time is on my side").
As Alice travels through the sea of time, we find out more about the Hatter and his daddy issues and more about the Red Queen and the White Queen and their sister issues. It was hard to get particularly invested in either storyline. As for the rest of the characters, they are basically just there, for little or no reason other than this is Underland and those are the characters that inhabit it. If we could have had a film with just Alice and Time, it would have been much more interesting and entertaining.
All told, Alice Through the Looking Glass isn't a terrible movie. It was good for a few chuckles. But it's unnecessary, unsubstantial, and ultimately forgettable. If you are still feeling "curiouser and curiouser," wait until it is available through Redbox or Netflix.
*** Spoiler Section ***
When we meet young Mirana (the White Queen), she's a perfectly normal young girl. Her mother is perfectly normal. So where did the flitty flighty wavy arm gliding stuff come from? Is that part of her queenly persona? I don't get it.
The visuals are impressive and the world of Underland is certainly richly imagined. The music is also good. But visual splendor and a nice accompaniment do not a good film make. There's really no justification for this film's existence. The story is contrived and strung together and has absolutely nothing to do with Lewis Carroll's novel of the same name.
The film opens interestingly enough, with the end of Alice's voyage around the world as she returns to London. It's dramatic and shows off Alice's character and strengths. Alice does remain a strong and likable character throughout the film, but apparently not much goes on in Underland unless she is around. The other characters are literally just sitting around a table waiting for her to show up, which she does at Absalom's request (he's the blue caterpillar turned butterfly voiced by the late Alan Rickman).
From there we learn that the Hatter has lost his "muchness" and the only way to save him is to go back in time and save his family. What could possibly go wrong with trying to change the past? As it turns out, time is personified as Time, played by Sacha Baron Cohen. Time pretty much steals every scene he is in and is the most interesting character in the film. He has a number of good lines and quite a few puns at his expense (e.g., the March Hare sits next to him and quips, "Time is on my side").
As Alice travels through the sea of time, we find out more about the Hatter and his daddy issues and more about the Red Queen and the White Queen and their sister issues. It was hard to get particularly invested in either storyline. As for the rest of the characters, they are basically just there, for little or no reason other than this is Underland and those are the characters that inhabit it. If we could have had a film with just Alice and Time, it would have been much more interesting and entertaining.
All told, Alice Through the Looking Glass isn't a terrible movie. It was good for a few chuckles. But it's unnecessary, unsubstantial, and ultimately forgettable. If you are still feeling "curiouser and curiouser," wait until it is available through Redbox or Netflix.
*** Spoiler Section ***
When we meet young Mirana (the White Queen), she's a perfectly normal young girl. Her mother is perfectly normal. So where did the flitty flighty wavy arm gliding stuff come from? Is that part of her queenly persona? I don't get it.
Quotable Quotes
- "When did you say Alice was coming?" "I didn't say she was coming. I said I'd invited her." "... Well played, Hatter." -- Time and the Mad Hatter
- "Blasted me-shaped corridors!" -- Time
- "You're late." "No, I'm right on ... time." -- Dormouse and the Cheshire Cat who is floating atop Time's shoulder
- "I'm sorry to have wasted your you." -- Alice to Time
- "You can only do the impossible when you believe it is possible." -- Alice
- "You cannot change the past. But you might do well to learn from it." -- Time to Alice
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