'Alice Through the Looking Glass' Review

Alice in Wonderland was financially successful and even one of Disney's first films to cross the billion dollar mark at the worldwide box office, so from a business standpoint I'm sure it made perfect sense to make a sequel. However, the critical reception was decisively mixed from both audiences and critics and neither showed signs of interest in a sequel.

Regardless, Disney reasoned a sequel was warranted and here we are with the results. I'll admit that I dreaded going to watch this as it tanked at the box office last weekend, wasn't too well received by audiences or critics, and I'm not a fan of the animated version or the 2010 live action incarnation. I decided to watch it since I had already written a Throwback Thursday Review for it's predecessor and I wanted to check it out for myself and see if it was truly that bad.

Alice Through the Looking Glass picks up relatively soon after Alice in Wonderland (I don't think the time gap was ever specified, and it wasn't important enough for me to remember if it was), and the audience learns that the Mad Hatter is in peril, so Alice must travel through time to save him. That's the lead up of events in the first act in a nut shell.

Alice's actions have plenty of huge repercussions, and my biggest issue with the story is that at the end of the film it's almost as though she didn't need to travel through time to help the Hatter. It bothered me that this made Alice seem stubborn and ignorant, seeing as she selfishly unknowingly wreaked havoc on Underland and wasn't reprimanded for such actions. The time travel allowed for many interesting concepts, but unfortunately almost none were fleshed out.

James Bobin takes the helm from Tim Burton as director and the change up behind the scenes is especially evident as Wonderland or Underland is visually much brighter and colorful as opposed to Burton's darker oblique tones. This was a welcome change for the visual aesthetic, as I found its predecessor to be too dark and just downright strange.

The visual style is once again fantastic to look at, but still odd nonetheless. The visual effects are improved for the most parts but there are some bits that were poorly rendered. The costumes, production design, and hair and makeup are fairly decent, but not as impressive as the precursor.

The screenplay written by Linda Woolverton has many of the same issues I found in the first with absurd dialogue, a weak plot, and lackluster story, but this time around actually puts Alice front and center. The characters are again simpletons as many of the characters have virtually no knowledge of ongoing events till reminded by one single word.

For example, the characters act like they no absolutely nothing about time travel what so ever until the White Queen mentions that none of them can go along... to which the characters nod their head. The supporting characters were actually written to be of absolutely no importance to any of the ongoing events, they contribute virtually nothing to the story. These characters aren't given any humorous bit parts, memorable one-liners, or even any development whatsoever as they merely embrace all the one-note caricatures exhibited in the forerunner.

In regards to performances, all virtually do the same thing they did in the last film. Mia Wasikowska is better this time around in the role of Alice though, as we actually see her emote. Something that definitely didn't happen in the first. 

Johnny Depp lazily provides virtually the same performance as the bonkers Mad Hatter, but delivers dialogue as though he has some kind of speech impediment and once again can't maintain a consistent accent. Like I said in my review of Alice in Wonderland, I feel Depp isn't giving his all because he is a versatile talented actor and I've seen him perform much better, but I think in this case, he's merely working to work and get a nice paycheck. 

Anne Hathaway plays the White Queen, and once again daintly and obnoxiously wafts her hand in the air.

Helena Bonham Carter screams in practically every scene as the Red Queen, which is frankly very annoying. Sacha Baron Cohen is one of the few newcomers to the group as Time, who's essentially the antagonist of the piece and has the wonkiest inconsistent European accent I have ever heard. At times he sounded like Arnold Schwarzenegger and other times he dropped the accent altogether making for a rather uncommitted showcase.

Matt Lucas, Michael Sheen, Stephen Fry, Alan Rickman, Barbara Windsor, Paul Whitehouse, and Timothy Spall all return to once again lend their voices to memorable characters from the animated classic including Tweedle-Dee/Dum, the White Rabbit, Cheshire Cat, the Blue Butterfly, Dormouse, the March Hare, and Bayard respectively (Apparently this time they were given names aside from the classic names, but I'm going to refer to them all as they are more well known). This time around each of the actors I just listed had significantly less to say and as I said earlier virtually no significance to the story aside from actually being present. 

Another returning player was the composer Danny Elfman, who once again composes a fabulous score. Thankfully, his composition matches the quickened fantasy adventure tone this time around, so that's one significant improvement from his previous score for Alice in Wonderland. 

If you enjoyed the Tim Burton Alice in Wonderland or the animated version, you may like this. Otherwise, I'd advise skipping out on seeing it in the cinema, if you want to see it badly enough but are discouraged wait to rent it from Redox or something. Alice Through the Looking Glass does fix some issues I had with the first but ultimately brings a weaker less cohesive jumbled mess of a story, a plethora of pathetic performances, and has yet to invest me in any of the characters that supposedly warranted this sequel in the first place.

Film Assessment: F

Throwback Thursday Review: 'Alice in Wonderland' (2010)

This week will be quite ambitious as I am going to be churning out at least three reviews today. A Throwback Thursday Review for the 2010 Tim Burton adaptation of Alice in Wonderland, a Throwback Thursday Review for X-Men: First Class and a special review that will be unveiled once it's posted. All three reviews will correlate to the dual release of X-Men: Apocalypse and Alice Through the Looking Glass this weekend. I expect to review both X-Men: Apocalypse and Alice Through The Looking Glass within the next few days or so (The X-Men: Apocalypse review will come first). Next week's Throwback Thursday Review will be over the latest 2014 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to coincide with the sequel's release. 

'Alice in Wonderland' (2010) Review

Nominated For: Best Visual Effects, Best Costume Design, and Best Art Direction.
Won: Best Costume Design, and Best Art Direction.

There's a lot that can be said about Alice in Wonderland (all adaptations), but I think one word that sums it up best is "odd". Therefore, it's only apt that Tim Burton's take on Wonderland fits the bill. One key thing to note about the film is that it falls along the lines of a sequel rather than a straight adaptation of what's come before. 

Alice in Wonderland was the beginning of Disney's push to venture into the live action fairytale genre by adapting their classic animated films, which has since become an annual endeavor from the Mouse-House. Despite the financial success (It grossed over a billion dollars worldwide), the film wasn't too well regarded by audiences or critics. Sadly, I have to agree that I fall into the camp that didn't quite take a shine to the film and in all honesty, I was never a big fan of the animated version either. 

Tim Burton is known for his strange films, that's just his niche as a filmmaker, and this is certainly no exception. One of Burton's strengths is his unique visual style that is applied to the expansive worlds he explores and Alice in Wonderland's visuals are marvelous. The work that went into the extensive hair and makeup, involved costume design, intricate art direction and brilliant visual effects should be commended and it's no shock the film was nominated and won in a few categories at that year's Academy Awards (These can be seen above bolded in the subheading). 

I think it's clear Burton's vision was perfectly realized and is quite appropriate for the Wonderland mythos. Rather than read me gush over the fantastic technical elements, which I'm sure is to be found in any review of Alice in Wonderland, I'm going to decipher what went wrong. 

Alice in Wonderland proves to be another case of "style over substance." Meaning, the creative team clearly focused on the aesthetics rather than the story. The narrative becomes very unfocused when forced to incorporate larger roles for supporting characters and the film makes it's message clear and then immediately deviates from it. There's a scene in which Alice outright says that she will be her own person and choose her own destiny, then she immediately proceeds to do as instructed by those around her? The characters were all poorly written with a lack of consistency in their actions throughout the film like the example I just provided. 

Also, for some reason, almost every character is written as a complete imbecile. Almost none of the characters actually think for themselves. For example, the Red Queen is deceived to not recognizing Alice because she consumed a growth hormone cake-thing and is about a foot taller yet looks the same? She even has a line of dialogue earlier in the film when looking at a drawing of Alice and says that she'd recognize that mess of hair anywhere. Then a few scenes later, she's in the same room as Alice, yet has no idea. To put it bluntly, they made the Red Queen a moron. 

It's difficult to be engaged in the film when I didn't care about any of the characters, since they're pretty much one-note caricatures, or any of the proceedings for that matter as I became a bit bored by the lackluster plot. And it only gets worse as the screenplay written by Linda Woolverton shoves pure gibberish into the character's dialogue that makes literally no sense, even in the context of the film (This is coming from the writer of The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast (1991), and Mulan?!?). All the negative elements I just discussed derive from the flimsy poorly written script. 

The film actually managed to assemble quite the all-star cast amassing many prestigious British talents, and some fan favorite actors, yet the performances fell flat in my opinion. Mia Wasikowska plays a nineteen year old Alice and manages to do a great job capturing Alice's innocent confusion and feels like an authentic version of the animated character. Unfortunately, Wasikowska has one-note limited emotional range so she doesn't get to really show her true acting prowess, it's yet to be seen if she has any and if it's a result of poor direction or lack of opportunity. 

Johnny Depp dives into his most deranged role yet as the Mad Hatter. Depp embodies the luny wack-job persona and so I can say he did well in that department, but he also implemented an inconsistent Scottish accent that irked me. This was bothersome because in some moments he dropped it altogether. Watching the film aware of Depp's talent made the performance seem like he wasn't putting his best foot forward but rather an unhinged version of Jack Sparrow. 

Anne Hathaway plays the White Queen and has this strange mannerism with her hands that will drive you insane as she waves them about daintily. 

Helena Bonham Carter is supposed to be the piece's villain as the Red Queen, yet never felt menacing. This was probably due to the creative decision to give the Red Queen an enlarged bobblehead, it's very difficult to take her seriously as it looks like she will fall over if she becomes unbalanced. Carter screams her way through the performance, so I can say that it was true to the animation but not quite villainous in my eyes. 

Among the other antagonists, Crispin Glover makes for a typical henchman as the Knave while Christopher Lee lends his British Baritone as the malicious Jabberwocky, a brilliant casting decision. Lee's moments as the demented dragon illicit the only feelings of true suspense throughout the entire film to which I must say "Bravo!" 

Matt Lucas, Michael Sheen, Stephen Fry, Alan Rickman, Barbara Windsor, Paul Whitehouse, and Timothy Spall all lend their great talents to memorable characters from the animated classic including Tweedle-Dee/Dum, the White Rabbit, Cheshire Cat, the Blue Caterpillar, Dormouse, the March Hare, and Bayard respectively. The assortment of CGI characters were all fairly serviceable, although they were cast to the side in favor of focus on the human characters. Once I took a step back, I did come to the realization many of these actors were probably involved for a paycheck and not concerned with delivering a memorable performance. 

Another mixed element for me was Danny Elfman's score. Elfman's composition is quite epic, yet feels mismatched with the events unfolding in the film. The score on it's own is an grandiose and surely worth listening to, however it actually detracts from the events unfolding onscreen as the score vastly over exaggerates the sense of adventure, with a quick tempo juxtaposing the slow, drugged pace of events in the film. I suspect that had Elfman gone for a more fantastical score rather than adventurous, it would have gelled together quite nicely. And this is no knock on Danny Elfman, whom I believe to be a wonderful composer that composed one of my favorite superhero film scores (the Sam Raimi Spider-Man Trilogy), but rather an assertment that his skills would be better utilized elsewhere. 

Alice in Wonderland lacks consistency in all areas aside from visuals and world building and is probably not worth your time unless you're into Burton's previous work or happen to be an Alice in Wonderland fanatic. 

Film Assessment: F