Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Alice Through The Looking Glass Theatrical Review

Alice Through The Looking Glass reunites most of the stars and voice cast from Disney's Alice In Wonderland. Tim Burton serves as one of the producers and the film is directed by James Bobin. The film is in some ways both a sequel and a prequel to the 2010 film and has Alice (Mia Wasikowska) returning to Underlandas it was called in the first film to save The Hatter (Johnny Depp), who has grown dark if spirit and will die unless Alice can travel across time to have the Hatter's family. In order to do this she must go up against Time (Sasha Baron Cohen) and risk the lives of all creation when she steals a device that can enable time travel, but neglects Time's answer, "You can learn from time, but you cannot change it."

What follows is an at times tedious storyline, but ultimately a very moving film that mirrors Alice's life in our world while bringing more layers of introspection and character development to the characters as a whole. In short, I liked Alice Through The Looking Glass because ultimately it is not a retread of the first film, but rather a barometer film which the viewer can experience the first film and this one in a new light and ultimately have a more fulfilling experience doing so too. 

There is a sequence that honestly felt a little too much like a video game and some characters might frighten young children so I suggest a parent or guardian should definitely be present when their child or children see this movie. 

Alice Through The Looking Glass is a nice cinematic bookend to Alice In Wonderland. I think if the film had been released in March like the original was, it would find a bigger audience. In the meantime, I would recommend checking Alice Through The Looking Glass out if not in theaters then definitely on home video. The film is dedicated the the late Alan Rickman.

(C) Copyright 2016 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.