Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016) review - Movie Thoughts (Chapter 32) ⏳

Hello everyone,

Today's film is another one of those things that had potential and hype, but ended up being super disappointing. I loved the first Alice in Wonderland, but this one just didn't have the same oomph. Another one for the sad sequel list, Hollywood needs to figure out its shit so we can have more interesting sequels and franchises that are consistently amazing across more than just a strong first punch....

(**disclaimer: the following thoughts are 100% my opinion, you do not have to agree with them - film is inherently subjective and everyone's perspective is valid! Also, there are probably spoilers in the following, read at your own risk. Now onto some thoughts....**)

Source: IMDB

In 2016, it wasn’t the greatest marketing strategy to centre Johnny Depp on your film poster. The much anticipated sequel to Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland (2010) was quickly derailed by the explosion of Depp’s off-screen personal life, and it turned out the film didn’t need that inadvertent sabotage because it was decisively average anyway. On Alice (Mia Wasikowska)’s return to the whimsical world of Wonderland, she must keep time-travel out of the hands of the vengeful Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter) and save the Mad Hatter (Depp) from death by travelling back in time to save his family. Much of this film doesn’t pop rushing through a stacked plot where Alice was still a badass but that’s the extent of its thematic appeal.

Through the laborious conceptual frustration, there were flashes of potential for a compelling and engaging sequel. World-building from a surface-level aesthetic perspective had that excessive fervour that defined Burton’s imaginings. Complex production design by Dan Hennah and fantastic costume design by Colleen Atwood evoked a clear sense of what audiences have come to visually expect from this franchise. Alongside the return of kooky favourites like the Cheshire Cat (Stephen Fry), March Hare Thackery (Paul Whitehouse) and twins Tweedledee and Tweedledum (Matt Lucas) were some cute new additions to the odd creature list. Visiting the castle of Time (Sacha Baron Cohen) produced ‘seconds’; adorable mechanical henchmen made out of spare parts led by lovable moustache-clad Wilkins (Matt Vogel). Anytime they were messing around or upgrading to ‘minutes’ and the ‘hour’ was a charming addition to the whimsy.

As this sequel dared to mess with time, the concept became beautifully visibly tangible. As the ‘personification of time itself’, Baron Cohen was a distinctive presence and the sweeping oceans of time flowed dynamically across the screen. Everything had that Burton-esque sparkle in one way or another, but it was all a little too obviously convenient.

Protagonist Alice’s growth over the narrative was the other majorly compelling aspect of this film. Never wavering from her characterisation as the embodiment of headstrong determination, she retained her unique mix of adventurous, awkward and kind whilst overcoming old and new challenges. Her costumes were gorgeously practical and full of colourful fabric once again, and the spirit of her individuality still shone through in the misogynistic England of the late 1800’s. Linda Woolverton’s decent screenplay had issues conceptually, but kick-ass moments like her daring escape from the mental hospital were really clever in affirming her inspiring fighting spirit. Watching Alice lay into the completely awful Lord Hamish Ascot (Leo Bill) again was satisfying despite the recycled plot point; but her new struggle of exploring and processing her grief for her father, and eventually being able to let go of the broken pocket watch was beautiful to watch. Wasikowska’s standout performance was once again strong and mature; unfortunately it was surrounded by other problems that dragged the film down into mediocrity.

A conceptual patchwork of largely repetitive and bland new adventures, this sequel lacked cohesion and a distinct purpose. The narrative explained the origin of eccentric character tropes unnecessarily using the crux of time itself. Laying out the reason why Hatter was melancholy and re-visiting his difficult relationship with his hat-making family did not make him more enjoyable and Depp was surprisingly restrained in his uneventful performance. Showing audiences the origin of the Red Queen’s iconic ‘off with their heads’ line, why her head is its rare shape and her general petulance as a childhood thing she never grew out of did little to change our perception of her as an antagonist. All the new stuff felt like going back over chartered territory with an inconsequential lens. Rapidly jumping between memories and time periods didn’t lend itself to a successful flow, and director James Bobin hasn’t been able to capture the amazement enough to properly invest in what was happening.

Burton’s initial creation borrowed from Lewis Carroll’s two most famous Alice novels; leaving minimal space to roam for writer Woolverton to craft a full story in franchise. What unfolded was an inconsistent plot with pockets of good potential that almost wasn’t worth the rocky journey to get there. The film’s climax had tension in racing to beat the red storm of time splintering; yet the angry two-film tension between the Red Queen and the White Queen (Anne Hathaway) completed fizzled out in another frustrating missed opportunity.

Burton was downgraded to producer in this Alice in Wonderland sequel that had the crazy aesthetics but not the compelling oomph to move it out of ‘good’ territory. An unappealing origin story that doesn’t offer much of anything new whilst maintaining a strong precedent of an empowered female protagonist, this was a trip to Wonderland low on the wonder part.

7/10, 3 STARS

Thanks for reading,

Love and tea parties with a mouse, a rabbit and a hat-maker, Emily ⏳