I suppose a lot of people feel like Alice right now....tumbling down the rabbit hole, or more befitting taking a stroll through the looking glass. Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland was visually stunning beyond imagination, and utilized 3-D perfectly, but didn't care much for a lot of the story, but the characters were amazing. And of course Alice Through the Looking Glass continues that tradition, and many of the others as well. So Alice is starting her career as an adventurer, which many don't approve of especially her mother, so she is struggling with that and other social norms that she is not conforming to. However, she gets called to Underland to help the Mad Hatter get better, and in order to do this she has to change the past so she steals time essentially from...time I suppose. A rather fascinating notion actually. Mia Wasikowska as Alice was much better this time around in my opinion, but there wasn't really anything new and dynamic to her character really, although they tried, but she had a good performance. Johnny Depp was as funny and clever as the Mad Hatter, and they got a little deeper with his character, but not really much to stand out. Still as always he was the main draw to the film. Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen was of course amazing as always; such a talented actress. Sacha Baron Cohen played time, and he was a little over the top of a character at times, but I actually really enjoyed his character and performance overall. Then there were of course the minor roles/cameos and talented actors and actresses such as: Rhys Ifans (played the Hatter's father), Matt Lucas (Tweedledee & Tweedledum), Lindsay Duncan (Alice's Mother), Leo Bill (Hamish), Andrew Scott, Richard Armitage, Ed Speelers, Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall, Stephen Fry, and Michael Sheen. The film had an excellent cast, although a lot of them could have been utilized more effectively.
The director, James Bobin, did an okay job directing, which considering how much was going on in this film must not have been an easy task; in a blockbuster style film like this there are a lot of moving parts. Perhaps where I find a lot of fault in this film is the writing by Linda Woolverton; the dialog, story, and plot were all interesting ideas but the entire film had a rather scatterbrained feel to it. And yes I know Through the Looking Glass, the book, is rather like that as I have tried to read it on several occasions, but it is so doggone confusing to read. But there can be a certain appeal to something being scatterbrained, that is if it is crafted corrected.....which this film was not. Granted I found it quite entertaining and enjoyable most of the time, but it was also quite ridiculous and senseless as well frequently. There were relatively good special effects, and I didn't see it in 3-D but I imagine it was comparable to the first film. Danny Elfman did the music and it was good, but the music for the first film was quite better. The production design by Dan Hennah was very impressive; all of the sets looked so cool and very interesting. All in all the film was good and enjoyable, but if you miss it then you miss it; it's not one for the record books or enduring time vault. It does provide a most excellent escape from reality though, and judging bu people's moods as of late in the United States and the world, it might be just what the doctor ordered. Although, it was the last film Alan Rickman participated in before his death, so that might help it go down in history for something.Alice Through the Looking Glass clip
Alice Through the Looking Glass trailer
Helena Bonham-Carter interview
