Tim Burton gave us an Alice in Wonderland in 2010 and it was unlike we’d ever seen. Audiences responded in droves, driving the film over a billion dollars in box office revenue. Any time a movie makes that kind of dough, it is inevitable that it gets a sequel. Fast forward to 2016 and that is exactly what we have with Alice Through the Looking Glass.
Lucky for Disney and all those involved, this is not a sequel that is truly out of left field. In fact, Alice Through the Looking Glass was released by legendary author Lewis Carroll in 1871 and it gives screenwriters and new-to-the-director’s-seat James Bobin (The Muppets movies) something firm to work with. Yet, to many, this feels like a cash grab. The studio and all those involved in the movie can’t help that perception, it is what it is. But, lucky for them, the Alice Through the Looking Glass film has more of a story to grab on to and a more emotive plot than Burton worked with on Alice in Wonderland.
That being said, it is still not the most enthralling of films as a whole.
Proving casting is one of the most important elements of the filmmaking process, Mia Wasikowska is once again excellent as Alice and as we meet her as Alice Through the Looking Glass commences, she is commanding a tall ship as it evades a trio of pirate ships as it is returning from a trade trip to Asia. Although her crew may be mixed about being led by a woman, it isn’t long before they firmly embrace their leader as she proves her prowess as the steward of the ship her father left her.
Once back in London, things are awry on two fronts — her family’s finances (thus threatening her hold on her ship) and in wonderland… thanks to a visit by Absolem (Alan Rickman, in what sadly is his last role). The Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) is a little madder than his usual self and that has all around him quite worried. The only one, they feel, who can save him, is Alice. So… through the Looking Glass she goes.
Once she arrives in Wonderland, she discovers that the Hatter thinks that his family is still alive. As many know who keenly are aware of the entire Alice universe, they all perished. But the Hatter is certain that they are alive and clinging to that hope is, frankly, killing him. Alice must head back in time to avert what happened in the past, to ensure that the Hatters are in fact alive and well in the present.
That brings Alice to time himself (played impeccably by Sacha Baron Cohen). It also has her crossing paths with the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter) and a few new characters that perfectly fit into this madcap landscape that is as visually popping as it is innovative.
The problem is that despite its better plot than the first film, one still leaves the theater after witnessing Alice Through the Looking Glass, wondering why we even needed this film. Sure, the first one made a lot of money and clearly the audience wants to head back down the rabbit hole, but just because you can… does that mean you should?
Bobin steps in nicely for Burton and the visuals don’t suffer from Burton’s absence. We all know he is a master of the eye-popping scenery and Bobin brilliantly keeps those brush strokes alive on every frame. As we stated, Wasikowska is a great Alice, but once again she is upstaged by Carter, who looses herself in the craziness that is the Red Queen. She has such a blast playing the maniacal character that her performance alone makes the price of admission worth it.
If there is one person who upstages Carter, it is Cohen. Yet again, the actor proves that he is much better in someone else’s movies than he is his own (such as The Brothers Grimsby). His Time has heart and can be hardened by the reality that is time. The “time” puns abound, and his reaction to hearing them is priceless (like he hasn’t heard them before!).
Depp is fine as the Hatter once again and actually is given more to do on this film than the first one. If there is any actor working today who has the toolbox to be the Mad Hatter, it surely is Depp. The one who is miscast, is Anne Hathaway as The White Queen. She is a terrific actress, and one of our faves, but when it comes to how she tackles this character, in both Alice in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass, she is completely lost.
It’s not like Alice Through the Looking Glass is a wasted endeavor. The Movie Mensch simply believes that maybe we just didn’t need to dive through that mirror in the first place.
Grade: C-