Movie Review: Alice Through The Looking Glass
I’ve never seen the appeal people have towards the story of “Alice in Wonderland.” I’ve always thought it to be a highly overrated tale that really didn’t have much offer except for the character of the Cheshire Cat.
So back in 2010 when Tim Burton’s reboot of the Disney “classic” was released, I wasn’t very impressed overall and when I heard a sequel was on its way I greeted the news with a scuff and an eye roll. After months of heavy promotion on Disney’s part, “Alice Through The Looking Glass” is finally here and while it fairs better than its predecessor, overall it’s still a so-so movie with not much to offer.
Picking up three years after the last film, Alice (Mia Wasikowska), who is now a ship’s captain, has returned from her voyage at sea to find that the life she behind has changed dramatically. Before she has a chance to adjust though, she receives word from Absolem the butterfly (Alan Rickman’s final voice role) that she is needed back in Wonderland. When she arrives, she learns that the Mad Hatter (a still amusing Johnny Depp) is in trouble and in order to save him she must travel back in time to prevent a moment from the past from happening. What unfolds is basically Disney’s own version of “X-men: Days of Future Past” with Alice taking the place of Wolverine and while we’re greeted with stunning and amazing visuals, we’re hosted by a film full of sloppy writing and unnecessary plot points that add nothing to the story.
Going off of what I just said, the biggest problem with this film is Linda Woolverton’s script, which is filled with one too many unnecessary plot points. There’s a scene in the middle of the film where Alice makes a brief return to the real world for no other reason than making us feel like her plan to save the Mad Hatter is going to fail. It happens so randomly and resolves itself so quickly that I couldn’t stop wondering why Woolverton felt the need to include the scene at all. She had potential to turn it into a scene that could get our nerves going but like I said, she had it resolved within a matter of seconds that it really served no purpose other than to make the film a little longer.
That actually became a common theme within this movie though. There is a lot of conflict that rises up in this movie but it never has the chance to affect us because they get resolved almost as soon as they present themselves. In fact, every conflict in this film is resolved so quickly and so easily that you have to wonder why it takes Alice so long to finish her journey in trying to save the Mad Hatter. With how easy everything was, she really should have finished it much sooner than she actually did, so for me it made me think of Alice as more of a fool or damsel in distress than the badass they were trying to make her out to be.
It also felt like Woolverton had no idea how time travel worked as she was writing this film. Now don’t get me wrong, I know time travel isn’t an actual real thing (or is it?!) but there are plenty of films that use time travel to move their plot forward that handle it exceptionally well such as “T2: Judgement Day” or the previously mentioned “Days of Future Past.” It felt like Woolverton decided to just watch as many time travel movies as she could, took what she thought were the best moments from each and through them all together and hoped they’d work but sadly, it failed on every level. Towards the end of the film, there were at least three plot holes that remained unresolved – actually, due to the way Woolverton presented time travel, the end of the movie shouldn’t have even been possible in the first place – but hey, whatever.
It’s especially sad to see Woolverton’s script fail because we know she’s capable of writing fantastic movies. I mean this is the same woman who wrote the screenplay for “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Lion King!” So one has to wonder what exactly went wrong here?
If you actually read my reviews, you’ll notice I often praise the cast for the work they do however, I can’t even really do that this time. The cast is filled with a number of A-list talent but sadly their talents are wasted, which I can only blame on the script. Helena Bonham-Carter’s Red Queen is greatly underused and side lined and when she is on screen she spends all of her time yelling at the top of her lungs. I understand that the character of the Red Queen is supposed to be an angry woman but it felt extremely unnecessary to have Bonham-Carter screaming the entire time instead of getting a chance to actually act. Anne Hathaway returns as the kindly White Queen and while she is definitely more of a presence in this film and actually proves herself useful, much like the Red Queen, she’s pushed to the side lines and Hathaway’s talents are moved to the back of the bus. It’s a shame because the best moments in the film are actually the scenes which show both Queen’s interacting with one another, however those scenes are a rare breed and when they do happen they’re cut dramatically short. Johnny Depp is still a joy to watch, Sasha Baron Cohen’s character, Time, gets a few laughs out of you and Wasikowska can glare like no one else can, but overall, despite their best efforts, the cast just can’t seem to hold the weight of a poorly written script on their shoulders. But hey, at least they all looked like they were having fun on screen!
Despite the fact that the film’s screenwriter failed to show up to work during production, it’s nice to know that someone managed to bring their A-game to the office and those people are the special effects and set designers. The film is beautiful to look at with set pieces that are just to die for. It’s a visual masterpiece and really shows us just how far movie making has come and it’s amazing what they’re able to do now on screen. Whether we’re in Alice’s home back in London or sitting around the Mad Hatter’s tea table, every scene is as if your imagination has manifested itself onto the screen and has the kind of look and magic to it that only a Disney film can capture.
I’d also like to praise the costume designer on this film because they definitely went all out for this film and I wouldn’t be surprised at all if they were nominated for (and maybe even won) an Oscar next year for best costume design. With this film and last month’s live action adaption of “The Jungle Book,” the people who work behind the scenes on these latest Disney releases are really starting to become the real heroes of these films.
If you’re a fan of “Alice in Wonderland” and liked the last film then you’ll love this one. Despite my negative views there are still some redeeming qualities to be found and I’m sure die-hard fans of the series will be well pleased. The bottom line, while it’s a major improvement from the first film, “Alice Through The Looking Glass” is a visually stunning film with a fantastic cast that is dragged down by its less than passable script.
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