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06/09/2016 12:01 AMRated PG
2010’s financially successful, yet mostly disappointing Alice in Wonderland has a sequel: Alice Through the Looking Glass, directed by James Bobin (Muppets Most Wanted and TV’s Flight of the Conchords). The new film is visually beautiful, but blasé in nearly every other way, making it even more disappointing for fans of Lewis Carroll’s works than its predecessor.
Mia Wasikowska (Crimson Peak and Stoker) is back as Alice, a young woman who does not believe anything to be impossible. Even though this is unlikely, given the Victorian time period, Alice is a ship’s captain. Upon her return to England after years at sea, she is dismayed to learn that her ship (which was once her father’s) is now the possession of a man named Hamish (Leo Bill of 28 Days Later and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) whose proposal of marriage she once turned down. Alice finds herself without a ship, out of a job, and feeling very down when she unexpectedly makes her way back to Wonderland through a mirror in Hamish’s house, just as she is about to be captured by Hamish’s men.
Upon arrival in Wonderland, Alice is delighted to see her friends the White Rabbit, the Cheshire Cat, Tweedledee and Tweedledum, and the White Queen (Anne Hathaway of The Intern and The Devil Wears Prada). Alice’s only disappointment upon her arrival back is that her dearest friend, the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp of Black Mass and Mortdecai), is missing from the group’s tea. The group fills in Alice on the Hatter’s recent troubles. He has fallen dangerously ill from a broken heart upon finding out that his family, all of whom he once believed to be dead, are actually still alive, but he is without the means to find them.
Alice quickly agrees to a wild plan to go back in time to help discover what happened to the Hatter’s family and, therefore, save the Hatter from his own heartache. In order to travel back in time, Alice has to steal the time machine she needs from Time himself (Sacha Baron Cohen of The Brothers Grimsby and The Dictator), a situation that has far more dire consequences for everyone in Wonderland than for just the Hatter.
As Alice travels through time in pursuit of the truth of what happened to the Hatter’s family, she is chased frantically by Time who desperately wants back what is his. Alice is also pursued by her sworn enemy, the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter of Cinderella and Fight Club), who also wants control of the time machine so she can regain her seat on the throne. Given that she blames Alice for having taken her reign as queen from her, the Red Queen is none too happy to see Alice back in Wonderland and in possession of what she wants.
Mia Wasikowska is marvelous in the lead role of Alice and, of course, Helena Bonham Carter is great as the Red Queen, a role that seems as if it was created just for her (as do most of her roles, proving what an exemplary talent she is). The rest of the cast, however, is less than magical. The typically incredible Johnny Depp is less than that here, as is Sacha Baron Cohen as an awkward Time and Anne Hathaway as a flighty White Queen.
Alice Through the Looking Glass is very pretty to look at—including the costumes, the makeup, and the enchanted scenery—but it is a bore to watch beyond that. Despite the fact that it takes place in an imaginary land full of extraordinary beings and creatures, the storyline is lackluster and the film is ultimately disappointing.
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