Alice Through the Looking Glass – movie review

The Mad Hatter (formally known as Hatter Tarrant Hightopp) is in trouble and Alice rescues him. So goes Alice Through the Looking Glass, the sequel to the richly successful Tim Burton (Edward Scissorhands) creation Alice in Wonderland, which was released in 2010.

Now the cast, including Johnny Depp, Mia Wasikowska, Anne Hathaway, Matt Lucas and Helena Bonham Carter, has come together again and are joined by Rhys Ifans and Sacha Baron Cohen. Also back are the voices of Alan Rickman, Stephen Fry, Michael Sheen, Timothy Spall, Barbara Windsor and Paul Whitehouse.

Alice Kingsleigh (Wasikowska), the young woman raised in Victorian London who is a dreamer and a nonconformist, has spent the past three years living her dream. She has been sailing the high seas as captain of her own ship. Upon her return to London, she finds that, while much has changed in her absence, the antiquated views as to women’s role in society still remain and that the future she envisioned for herself may no longer be possible. While attending a reception at the home of the pompous and arrogant Lord Ascot, Alice has just cause to turn tail and dismiss his attempt to diminish her station in life. It is then that she spots Absolem (Rickman), now a blue Monarch butterfly, who leads Alice to a magical looking glass, through which she is able to return to Underland.

There, she is reunited with her friends, the White Rabbit (Sheen), the Cheshire Cat (Fry), the dormouse (Windsor), the March Hare (Whitehouse), the Tweedles (Matt Lucas) and the Mad Hatter (Depp), who, unfortunately, is not himself. The Hatter has lost his Muchness, so Mirana (Hathaway), the White Queen dispatches Alice to seek out Time himself (Baron Cohen). A peculiar creature that is part human, part clock, Time lives in a void of infinitude and possesses the Chronosphere. That is a glowing, spinning, metallic sphere inside the chamber of the Grand Clock that powers all time. It is what will allow Alice to go back in time to save the Hatter’s family, which the White Queen believes will, in turn, save the Hatter. Iracebeth (Bonham Carter) meanwhile, remains in exile, having been banished to the Outlands by her sister, where she has befriended Time and is plotting to steal the Chronosphere for herself.

Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland captivated readers around the world when it was first published in 1865. Set in a curious world full of unusual characters, the book changed the landscape of children’s literature. The release of Alice Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There six years later further solidified Carroll’s reputation as one of the world’s most prolific authors.

For years the producers of Alice in Wonderland talked of a second film, but knew one thing for certain: the movie would not be a straight adaptation of Carroll’s second book. The reason for that is that the Looking Glass contents are essentially a bunch of random and bizarre episodes from Carroll’s life that don’t bear any relation to one other. Linda Woolverton (Beauty and the Beast) had been working on a follow-up to her Alice in Wonderland screenplay and delivered a script which continued the adventures of Carroll’s vibrant characters. While it moves the story forward, it also steps back into the past.

The tone of this sequel is somewhat lighter and more comedic, with James Bobin (The Muppets) directing and Burton producing. Nevertheless, I felt the story added depth to a number of the characters, including the Mad Hatter, who is out of his mind with grief when Alice first arrives. We also get the back-story as to why Iracebeth turned out the way she did and learn something surprising about Mirana, the mild mannered and kind White Queen and beautiful younger sister to the spiteful Red Queen. I particularly liked the characterisation of Time by Baron Cohen, who is unmistakable in every role he assumes and was perfectly cast here.

Alice Through the Looking Glass is another wild and wacky ride, a glorious technicolour fantasy adventure with vivid imagination apparent throughout. Johnny Depp is his imperious self, his colourful make up, hair, look and affectations staying with you long after you exit the cinema. But the headstrong character played by Mia Wasikowska drives the action. As she showed in the original, Wasikowska is certainly up for the challenge. Whether it be a big box office film or an art house offering, she is forging an impressive career that continues to turn heads.

The colour palate and the special effects are undoubted features of the piece and all but deserve separate billing. Alice Through the Looking Glass is a worthy follow up that should delight Alice in Wonderland fans. Rated PG, it scores an 7 to 7½  out of 10.

Director: James Bobin
Cast: Johnny Depp, Alan Rickman, Anne Hathaway
Release Date: 26 May 2016
Rating: PG – Mild themes, some scenes may scare young children.
Alex First