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Director: James Bobin

Writer: Linda Woolverton

Runtime: 113 min

Main Cast:

• Johnny Depp as Hatter Tarrant Hightopp
• Mia Wasikowska as Alice Kingsleigh
• Helena Bonham Carter as Iracebeth
• Anne Hathaway as Mirana
• Sacha Baron Cohen as Time

Review: by Faith and Marie

Alice through the Looking Glass was by far one of the greatest movies we have seen this year so far. Sadly Tim Burton was not a part of this film, but replacement Director, James Bobin and returning screenwriter, Linda Woolverton definitely pulled out the stops to make this yet another fantastic film; filled with fairy tale, weirdness, and humor.

Alice (Mia Wasikowska) travels into the past to prevent the Jabberwocky from roasting the parents of the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp), which begins the sequel to Tim Burton’s 2010 film Alice in Wonderland. All of the major characters from the first film return, including the Hatter, Red Queen (Helena Bonham-Carter) and White Queen (Anne Hathaway). Of course, Carter is absolutely amazing, however, it seemed as though the Red Queen was sidelined throughout most of the movie as is the White Queen. So that was a little upsetting since they are both great actresses that had very substantial roles in the previous film.

When we first meet back up with our heroine “Alice,” she’s in command of her father’s ship the “Wonder” and has been carving out trade routes to China. When she arrives back home in London she comes face to face with some difficult real-estate negotiations with her former suitor, Hamish (Leo Bill). Luckily for Alice, this real-world frame does not take up to much of her time back home in London, and Alice soon slips through a mirror into Wonderland, reuniting with her old friends Tweedledee, Tweedledum (Matt Lucas), the White Rabbit (Michael Sheen), the Cheshire Cat (Stephan Fry) and the White Queen. They all show their concern to Alice for the depressed Hatter, and the White Queen gives Alice a mission to travel back in time to save the Hatter’s family.

Alice is given the task to steal a contraption called the Chronosphere, from its owner, Time itself (Sacha Baron Cohen). Time is a German-accented taskmaster, in command of a slew of brass minions who combine to form terrifying robotic henchmen that actually reminded us of the Decepticons in the hit film “Transformers.” The banished Red Queen is busy trying to sweet-talk her way into getting the Chronosphere from Time as well, but of course, Alice gets it first and then meets up with progressively younger versions of the Hatter and his disapproving father (Rhys Ifans) as she time travels. The young Red Queen is here in the past as well, and we even get to see the origins of her evil and the reasoning behind her gigantic head.

What We Liked:

The best thing about this movie was the original cast from the first film and their ability to just pick up where they left off. Even with the addition of new characters, it seemed as though they went right from the first movie into the second. Alice and the Hatter’s onscreen chemistry was simply phenomenal and all of the characters even looked and sounded the same. Depp is convincingly vulnerable and forlorn, all while maintaining the Hatter’s eccentricity and humor we have all grown to love.

What We Didn’t Like:

Some of the story was a tad boring at times which makes the movie slow, and then ultimately make the audience tired. As Alice runs from one set piece to another, hitting every mark that a colossal movie like this must in order to pay for itself, her adventure grows less and less interesting with every turn. If it was not for the outstanding cast the movie probably would have taken a terrible turn for the worst.

Images Courtesy of IMDB