‘Alice Through the Looking Glass’ Review: Visually Stunning – But Long

This time around, Alice Through the Looking Glass is handled by Muppets Most Wanted director James Bobin (the first film being directed by Tim Burton). The film is equally as stunning as Burton’s production, and even adds a few new sets to the mix that truly pay homage to Lewis Carroll’s enduring creation.

Alice (Mia Wasikowska) has been off sailing the seas as a captain for the last few years, but when she returns home to London – things are anything but smooth. She happens to see Absolem (voiced by the late Alan Rickman) appear before he leads through a mirror and back to the Underland where she finds herself reunited with the White Queen Miriana (Anne Hathaway), the Cheshire Cat, the White Rabbit, Tweedledee and Tweedledum (Matt Lucas) from Alice In Wonderland.

Alice learns that the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) is depressed over the loss of his family, and Alice finds herself tasked with traveling through time to save his family from their demise – only in order to do so she has to steal a device from the Time – or at least the human version of it (played by Sacha Baron Cohen). During her adventure, she meets a younger (and less crazy) Hatter and also learns the origins of the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter).

Despite being in the midst of such an experienced ensemble cast (including the serial scene stealer Helena Bonham Carter), Mia Wasikowska carried the responsibility for the movie with ease and appeared in almost every scene. Sacha Baron Cohen injected a much-needed stream of comedy into this sequel. While performances from Johnny Depp were much more muted this go-around.

Alice Through the Looking Glass is a visually stunning family-friendly film, but overall the film feels quite long and not as exciting as its predecessor.

Alice Through the Looking Glass Review:

Grade: C+

Want to hear more of what I thought about Alice Through the Looking Glass? Be sure to tune into the ATLas Podcast next Wednesday!