NickReview for Alice Through The Looking Glass (2016) Directed by James Bobin. Starring: Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter. IMDB says “Alice returns to the whimsical world of Wonderland and travels back in time to save the Mad Hatter.”
“Tea time, forever!”
I have always liked the 1951 Disney adaptation of Alice in Wonderland. It was so whackadoo and bonkers, but more importantly it was creatively imaginative and wonderfully inventive. The world and the characters that inhabited it left me wide-eyed and wishing Wonderland was a real place. It was a Disney classic that was fine as is and needed no remake. I never dove into the late 1800s books written by Lewis Carroll, but from what I’ve read, the 1951 version of Alice combined elements of both Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There. I was okay with that.
In 2010, Disney took us back to Wonderland with Alice in Wonderland, but it wasn’t the typical story. It was an older Alice returning to Wonderland, realizing her destiny, and defeating the nonsensical dragon beast Jabberwocky. I’m not some “Alice Purist” where I went running around condemning the film and tweeting #NotMyAlice. I was uninterested so I didn’t watch the film. But that changed when I had the opportunity to see Alice Through the Looking Glass. There was something about the trailer that piqued my interest. But in order to watch the film, I had to watch the Disney reimagining from 2010. To me, it was okay. They went in some interesting directions, but it didn’t capture me like the 1951 Alice did and still does. Maybe it’s because I’m not in the target demographic, and you know what, that’s okay.
I’m telling you all of this to show you I went into Looking Glass with an open mind. I did the research, familiarized myself with the previous film, and went in with the best of intentions. However, I should’ve known this film was going to be an abysmal slog through a hot garbage story. I kept thinking it was going to get better and I was continuously let down. The trailer is misleading. If you think you’re getting a movie where Alice has escaped from an insane asylum, returns to wonderland, and then saves the Mad Hatter’s life, you are not only sorely mistaken, but you’ll end up seeing a completely different film altogether. I checked out a synopsis for the book and surprise (not) it has NOTHING to do with the film. The only thing the two have in common is the title (kinda).
Directed by James Bobin (Muppets, Muppets Most Wanted), the film picks up a few years after the events of Alice in Wonderland (2010) and sees Alice (Mia Wasikowska) the captain of a ship, returning home from a long voyage. She’s filled with wonder and amazement and wishes to report her findings right away so she can go back out and explore. She has to report to Hamish (really, she’s crashing a party he’s holding, but that’s a whole other subplot we don’t care about) cause, you know, it creates tension and conflicted interests, and after being embarrassed, finds a quiet room to sit and feel defeated. Who should show up but Absolem (voiced by Alan Rickman) the butterfly (companion? mentor? oracle?) telling Alice exactly what you hear in the trailer then disappearing forever. Yeah. The dialogue we get from Absolem is enough to spark Alice’s adventure back to Wonderland, but we get nothing else from him through the rest of the movie. (The same goes for Andrew Scott in the asylum scene, but I’m getting ahead of myself) Why bother bringing him back at all? Just cause he’s a familiar face? I’m legitimately asking because I don’t know why he’s here. He’s not acting as a messenger because that was never his role in the first film, so why would that be the case here? Anyway, Alice, with the help of Absolem, finds a random mirror in Hamish’s mansion (of all places) steps through, and finds herself in Wonderland again. She makes her way to the Mad Hatter’s house where our story begins. Long story short (too late) Alice must travel through time in order to save the Hatter’s parents whom he thinks are still alive. All of what I described happens in the first fifteen-ish minutes of a nearly two-hour film. The plot becomes so convoluted, and filled with unnecessary side characters and subplots, it’s almost dizzying. It’s a mess.
I don’t even know where to begin. Written by Linda Woolverton, who also wrote the 2010 reimagining, there is too much going on in this film. We get small spots of familiar characters here and there and a handful of new characters that we don’t see enough of and end up not caring about. I feel like most of these characters are here because they were in the last one. They don’t do anything except waste time and provide tired and overused jokes. Even with main characters like the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp), The White Queen (Anne Hathaway), and the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter) we get broad strokes and hollow caricatures rather than the performances we know these actors/actresses are capable of. Then, we have new characters introduced to us and they’re given nothing to do. Richard Armitage (Hobbit Trilogy) shows up and he’s barely seen and Andrew Scott (Sherlock, Spectre) plays Dr. Addison Bennett, which, I don’t know why he has a name because all of his dialogue and scenes are already shown in the trailer. The worst offense is with Sacha Baron Cohen as Time. He does such a solid job, but his character is a waste and he ends up coming across more as a goon/lieutenant than a true villain. And really he’s not even a villain. It’s just that his technology is eventually pursued for the use of evil. Why is his character even necessary? The Red Queen returns to the forefront as the main villain, but we don’t know why. She just shows up. We’re given zero back-story and we’re left asking many more questions than this film gives answers. To make it even more confusing, the main plot takes a back seat to a very boring sub plot nobody cares about.
Despite all the bad, there are a few shining moments. Mia Wasikoska is wonderful, no pun intended. You know what, pun intended. She’s given all the heavy lifting, and while Mia is a capable actress and can handle the load, the rest of the script is so lacking that she can’t save the film. The costuming and set locations are bright and fantastical and the effects work is good. The way they imagine time as an ocean and the overall design of Time’s castle harkens back to the wide-eyed and inventive longing of Disney’s original adaptation.
I saw the film in IMAX 3D and it felt like a true 3D film for the first few minutes. It looked and felt as if waves were crashing into the theatre and the air was filling with cannon smoke. You felt immersed in this world. But quickly, the film reverted back to the usual depth-of-field fare we’re used to seeing. It’s a shame too because so many visually striking things happen in this film that really could and should have taken advantage of 3D. So while I’m all about IMAX, I can’t really recommend the 3D as a huge selling point. All of this being said the children in the audience, the target demographic, really enjoyed the film. There was applause as it ended and smatters of laughter throughout. I overheard one kid saying how he/she couldn’t wait to watch it over and over again. So if you have kids interested in seeing the film, I’m sure they will enjoy it. Outside of that, don’t waste your time or money with this movie. If you really want to give Disney your money, go see Captain America: Civil War again.
FTS SCORE: 53%
Alice Through The Looking Glass is in theaters nationwide now.