Alice Through the Looking Glass

I was looking forward to the sequel to Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, though I had some concerns that it would end up as a rambling romp without any order or plot. Fortunately, it turned out very solidly in my opinion and I left the cinema satisfied. I was intrigued by the idea of time travel (using the chronosphere), which is a very dated element, but it was still conceived in an original way and I was just waiting to see how it would all unfold. I was quite surprised by the identity of the film's biggest villain, as the trailers suggested something completely different, but I take that as a clever misdirection for the viewers, who get a surprise during the screening. As for the visuals, they are basically as colourful and unnaturally artificial as in the first film, but that didn't bother me at all. The musical aspect was also unmissable and I was pleased with the closing song by Pink (there are some really wonderful title songs in movies lately - e.g. Zootropolis or The Huntsman: Winter's War). The cast was excellent, with newcomer Sacha Baron Cohen entertaining me royally – the most funniest scene was his lingering at the tea party. In short, a sequel that certainly doesn't disgrace the first, and even brings something new to the table. (06/02/2016)

No, not this. Johnny Depp isn't just bad here, he's simply annoying, just like the story. I just don't want to see Depp in similar roles anymore... Oh, there is going to be another Pirates film... Time travel is a cliché, and here it just doesn't work. It's just stretching something that could have been presented more interestingly, perhaps in a more detective-like manner. It's a good thing Burton didn't make it. On the other hand, he'd probably do it anyway... (10/15/2016)

The second film opens with a spectacular nautical scene, which is, sadly, totally dumb. The ensuing plot digs itself out of this hole but only barely. Everything I liked about the characters in the first film is gone. Alice isn’t anything special, the Hatter is Deppressed, the White Queen, who used to give me fits of laughter, bored me, and Red didn’t bring anything new. Sacha Baron Cohen and his castle saved the film for me. Time, the castle and the Seconds reminded me of MediEvil on PS 1, which made my day. (11/20/2016)

Given that the script has already strayed very far from the original premise based on Carroll and Disney, a sequel to Burton's Alice can be considered almost original. For me, it was definitely very interesting to see how this strange world changes, how we meet these fairy tale characters again and again and for the first time we can almost understand them outside the established templates. An interesting excursion. (01/31/2020)

A faint, poor imitation of the first film. Its trivial plot is boringly stretched out through unnecessary talkativeness, which lacks humor and tension and even the imaginative, dreamy and poetically absurd crackpot atmosphere of Lewis's book, which Disney and Burton somehow managed to preserve, and on which Alice in Wonderland: Through the Looking Glass did not build, but in fact turned against it by deciding to combine the children's and adult worlds in a completely dysfunctional way. Although the film introduces Alice as a mature action heroine in the beginning and lets her deal with adult themes (the plot is based on the fact that Alice travels through time and gradually reveals the traumas that some characters in Wonderland suffer from, what the cause of these traumas is and how it is possible to resolve them so that they would not suffer from them). However, the film is more so aimed at infantility, so it drags Alice through a nonsensical story, where the supporting characters either embarrass themselves or become idiots. Disappointment and failure on many levels. (06/11/2016)