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May 29, 2016 4:28 PM MST
Alice Through the Looking Glass
Rating: Four Stars
“Alice Through the Looking Glass” continues the narrative of Alice, Lewis Carroll’s timeless character, as depicted in the 2010 Tim Burton adaptation. This 2016 follow up, directed by James Bobin and written by Linda Woolverton with Burton as producer, is based on Carroll’s novel Through the Looking-Glass. With taut dialogue, an ensemble cast, and an expectation-defying plot, “Through the Looking Glass” successfully manages to surpass its predecessor.
Alice Kingsleigh (Mia Wasikowska) has proven herself more than capable as the captain of her father’s ship, and after a three year voyage, she returns to London. Upon her arrival, Alice discovers that Hamish Ascot (Leo Bill), her almost-fiancé, has assumed ownership over his father’s company, which currently employs Alice. Scorned by her earlier rejection, Hamish explains his plans to take back her ship in exchange for her mother’s home, and offers her a position as a clerk. Distraught, Alice returns to Underland (Wonderland) by stepping through a mirror, or looking glass.
However, all is not well in Wonderland. Her party of friends, the White Rabbit (Michael Sheen), Cheshire Cat (Stephen Fry), White Queen (Anne Hathaway), Absolem (Alan Rickman), and the Tweedles (Matt Lucas) reveal that the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) has gone, well mad. Madder than usual, that is. After finding the first hat he ever made, Hatter is now convinced that his family, presumed dead after the Jabberwocky attack, is still alive. Alice embarks on a mission to save Hatter’s family, which involves stealing the Chronosphere from Time (Sacha Baron Cohen) in an attempt to travel back in time and change the course of history.
“Through the Looking Glass” resumes a few years after the events of 2010’s “Alice in Wonderland,” and plunges into the story straight away. Alice’s journey into Wonderland happens much earlier than in the original film, and it’s neat to see her step out back into the real world for a brief intermission, before returning to Underland for most of the third act. Set design is gorgeous, both in the real world and Wonderland. The opening sequence of Alice outwitting a fleet of pirates is truly captivating, with realistic waves crashing and cascading. Time’s castle is breathtaking, and the use of CGI feels more to craft a backdrop rather than overpowering with its intricate visuals.
In a pleasant but unusual twist, “Through the Looking Glass” is quite dialogue-driven. While there’s no shortage of action, the film strikes a balance. Conversation drives the story, with action at pretty regular intervals. An ensemble cast helps the talking maintain a steady ebb and flow. Seasoned actors the likes of Andrew Scott (who appears all-too briefly) and Richard Armitage wisp in and out, testament to the talented roster. Helena Bonham Carter reprises her role as the Red Queen, outdoing her stellar performance in the previous entry.
The plot features several unexpected twists, and it’s a bit dark in places. As a fairy tale goes, it’s not quite as intense as “Return to Oz” which featured the notorious heads scene, but has its own moments of briefly bleak sequences. Yet there are still some definitely foreseeable happenings, occasionally stumbling into predictability. While the overwhelmingly gifted cast is a treat, there are times when the story feels too rushed. Scott notably doesn’t get nearly enough screen time, appearing in a dark but humorous scene which calls to mind the aforementioned “Return to Oz” and its commentary on fantasy, reality, and insanity.
Despite its few shortcomings, “Alice Through the Looking Glass” continues the reinvented Alice in Wonderland epic. It’s equally, if not more, enjoyable than the first series entry, aided in no small part by the brilliant cast. What propels it from good to great is a heavy reliance on dialogue rather than pure octane, and the surprising plot elements which subvert traditional fairy tale tropes.
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Movie Review – Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016)
May 29, 2016 by Robert Kojder Leave a Comment
Alice Through the Looking Glass, 2016.
Directed by James Bobin.
Starring Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Stephen Fry, Michael Sheen, Timothy Spall, Rhys Ifans, Matt Lucas, Richard Armitage, Andrew Scott, Lindsay Duncan, and Sacha Baron Cohen.
SYNOPSIS:
Alice returns to the whimsical world of Wonderland and travels back in time to save the Mad Hatter.
Alice (Mia Wasikowska) returns to the whimsical world of Underland and travels back in time to save the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) in Disney's ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS, an all-new adventure featuring the unforgettable characters from Lewis Carroll's beloved stories.
In an age where Hollywood cannot go more than two years tops without cashing in on a sequel to a smashing box office success, it is absolutely flabbergasting from a business perspective that Alice Through the Looking Glass is just now being released a little over six years after Tim Burton rebooted the iconic characters and story with Alice in Wonderland. That movie made over $1 billion too, begging the question, why was there no immediate follow-up?
Well, after having watched Alice Through the Looking Glass, it seems safe to assume that creatively there wasn’t much of an interesting direction to take things. I realize that has never stopped Hollywood before, but even the most casual of moviegoers will sense that something is terribly off regarding the presentation and narrative of this second modernized CGI Alice in Wonderland feature. There is no spark, no soul, no life, but rather a whole lot of pretty things happening on the screen that wholly fail to resonate on any meaningful level.
Do the special effects team and costume designers deserve credit for making Alice Through the Looking Glass stand out as visually spectacular and pleasing? Absolutely, everything from the purple dress (that also contains a number of other colors and designs embedded on the fabric) Alice wears throughout the film, to Johnny Depp’s Mad Hatter get-up, to the conceptual design of time as an actual place, and more, is certainly all fascinating to behold with a great degree of wondrous imagination. The actual visual effects are also beautiful, although after having seen something like The Jungle Book I must admit that the mouth movements of the fantasy inspired creatures and animals, along with their general juxtaposition to real-life actors do not look as fluid. It’s actually quite jarring most of the time, and the only gripe with otherwise fantastic effects.
Unfortunately, it is all a hollow effort considering that again, there isn’t much in the way of characters or a story to care about. There is an attempt to tie all of the subplots together as a central theme regarding the importance of family, which is something that will certainly play well for younger viewers and general families checking out the movie, but it is so ham-fisted by the end of the experience, one is left just feeling as if director James Bobin took one simple idea and stretched it out over two hours of blindingly beautiful colors and computer wizardry.
Alice Through the Looking Glass is also most definitely one of those two-hour movies where you begin to feel every minute. It doesn’t help that seemingly half the movie depicts Alice traveling through time in a Chronosphere, which looks a lot like sailing in a giant hamster ball through an electricity field of many different colors showcasing glimpses of different time periods; it’s well, time travel. It is fun and pretty to look at the first time, but there is so much time traveling going on that eventually viewers will grow tired of the sequences, and at some point even begin to lose grasp of the plot, aside from the very general idea that the Mad Hatter is sad and needs his family saved.
For as soulless as the entire experience plays out however, it cannot be denied that the ensemble cast show up as reliable as ever. Mia Wasikowska continues to make a great Alice regarding both physical features and personality, Johnny Depp is as eccentric and bizarre as you would expect him to be, Helena Bonham Carter is pleasantly nasty as the evil Queen, and Anne Hathaway is fine in her role, but the real awesome addition is Sacha Baron Cohen and his particular style of comedic delivery portraying Time as a person.
The movie itself isn’t offensively terrible to the point where you’ll be raging in the lobby demanding your money back, but it is rather unremarkable, even more so than the film Tim Burton gave us six years ago. Alice Through the Looking Glass is the sequel we didn’t need but had to get at some point considering how bankable the franchise is, and might still be.
Alice (Mia Wasikowska) returns to the whimsical world of Underland to help the Hatter (Johnny Depp) in Disney's ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS, an all-new adventure featuring the unforgettable characters from Lewis Carroll's beloved stories.
The question to ask now is what is next, and in a perfect world, I would tell you the big studios in Hollywood would finally ditch family-friendly Alice in Wonderland and put the true twisted nature of the story on screen (preferably with a video game adaptation of Alice: Madness Returns), but realistically this will probably still make a decent amount of money, and Johnny Depp is going to need to offset the alimony money SOMEHOW, so prepare for about five more by 2030.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
https://www.flickeringmyth.com/2016/05/movie-review-alice-through-the-looking-glass-2016-2/