Alice Through the Looking Glass, the sequel to stupidly financial success that is Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. It follows Alice on a time-traveling adventure to save the Mad Hatter's family, while running from Time himself.
Alice Through the Looking Glass is not the type of movie that you would normally find in the theater to see. However, due to some circumstances, I went to see this in theater with two of my best friends, so that's why I watched it, and now it's time to review this thing!
Directed by: James Bobin
Genre: Fantasy, Family
Release Date: May 27, 2016
Running Time: 113 minutes
MMPA rating: PG
The Good: Pretty colors, Surprisingly good production value, Funny time puns,
The Bad: Does almost nothing interesting or anything at all, Painfully meh, Weak performances, Depp phones it in,
Plot: 2.9/10- Alice Through the Looking Glass' plot does nothing particularly bad, nor does it do anything good. Despite having too much going on, it feels like nothing is happening. It feels so incredibly generic. But again, there's nothing that is truly awful, just painfully meh.
Characterization: 2.0/10- Wait, did this movie have characters? Well, I guess Alice is a character, and there is the subplot of a woman fighting to have a man's job, which is clichéd yet not dreadfully executed. The Mad Hatter feels so dull. He is the crux of the narrative and yet he's just boring. The Red Queen continues to be a loud caricature that shouts and shouts about chopping off heads. Time is a fun character in a goofy way, and the rest of the cast is boring.
Direction: 4.0/10- James Bobin is no Tim Burton, but nothing about the direction is necessarily bad. It's all serviceable with occasional moments of visual spectacle.
Acting: 1.4/10- Poor performances across the board! Johnny Depp phones it in hard as the Mad Hatter. Mia Wasikowska is a little less wooden than she was in the first film, albeit still bland. Anne Hathaway walks around like she is on drugs, and Helena Bonham Carter is loud and annoying. Sacha Baron Cohen is the only highlight of the film with his goofy, yet humorous, time jokes. Alan Rickman is in one of his final roles briefly voicing a CGI, so that was nice hearing him again after his untimely passing.
Special effects: 6.0/10- If anything, Alice Through the Looking Glass is a pretty film. The CGI is certainly overbearing, but hey, the visuals are occasionally eye-catching if nothing else.
Soundtrack: 6.5/10- Danny Elfman is disappointingly underwhelming. Nothing is stands out at all, which is a shame for an Elfman score.
Humor: 6.2/10- Sacha Baron Cohen's time puns and jokes are silly and childish, yet still managing garish quite a few laughs. The Mad Hatter also has a couple of decent jokes, although nothing else makes an impact.
Entertainment Value: 5.0/10- Thanks to watching this being the first time I had the pleasure of watching a movie with two of my best friends, watching the movie was significantly more fun than it would have otherwise been. With that said, I almost literally nodded off during the film and that has NEVER happened before, so yeah, it was kind of boring.
Overall: 2.9/10- Alice Through the Looking Glass is inoffensive and occasionally charming. However, it does nothing interesting, nothing to make the film's existence worthwhile. It is a colorful children's film and nothing more. But again, it's so inoffensive that I left the theater decently entertained, albeit bored at times. Overall, do not waste your time or money on this film, unless you loved the first film. Otherwise, skip this and watch Civil War again.
Closing comments: What more is there to say? The movie is painfully "meh," so don't waste your time or money on it.
Recommended for: Alice fans,
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"Anne Hathaway walks around like she's on drugs," ROFL BUT FOR REAL THO. She did it the first time and I was like..."the director doesn't let her do that again, does he?" but then yep.... ROFL. XD
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree, best part of this movie was just being there with you and Rebecca. XD I'm still surprised that I didn't notice you half falling asleep though. XD The pretty colors and whacky world must have distracted me enough I guess. LOL. XD
ROFL, yep! XD
DeleteAgreed. The experience of watching was much better than the actual movie.
-James
Alice Through the Looking Glass was simply dreadful! Granted, I laughed at the time puns (ex.: when the Cheshire Cat lays on Time and says "I'm right on Time"), but apart from that I thought there was no point to the sequel (except that the first one made money...who knows why, as that one was bad too). I didn't care one bit about the Hatter's family or why they needed rescuing.
ReplyDeleteAs for Hathaway, my friend commented that she was 'fluttery' as she was the last time, but I'll share your description, which I think is more accurate.
Agreed, simply dreadful indeed. Exactly, aside from the few time puns, there was no point, nor did I care.
Delete"Fluttery" works too. But yeah, she was so weird in the movie. Makes me wonder what the director was thinking.
-James