'Alice Through The Looking Glass' Review

When you talk about sequels that are better than the first instalment, it can sometimes be hard to find one that people universally agree on. However we may of found one in Alice Through The Looking Glass. After the first instalment it wasn't really that hard though.

Mia Wasikowska is back again as Alice who after a while has returned to Underland. She is greeted by familair faces and the terrible news that the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) is dying due to being haunted by his families death by the Jabberwocky. He is sure that they are still alive and believes only Alice can help get them back and restore the Hatter to full health. Alice will need the help from Time (Sacha Baron Cohen) to go back in time to save the Hatters family.

In the trailers of the film, it looked to be setting the character Time up to be the villain in the film. And at first it does seem to try and do so as Time pursues Alice and tries to stop her after she steals the Chronosphere that allows her to travel into the past. There is no real motivation for Time to be the villain here as what Alice is doing is potentially dangerous to the existence of their entire world. The film could've done with an actual villain throughout the whole film. Due to this the film does become quite a bit of a mess and loses focus at times. It isn't entirely sure what way it wants to go and it does hurt the film.

In saying that, I did enjoy watching the character Time played by Sacha Baron Cohen. He was entertaining throughout the film even with quite a ridiculous German accent. His eccentric ways and comedic timing actually was a highlight of the film. He interacts fairly well with the other characters especially with his own minions that create some enjoyable moments. Along with Wasikoswka, Cohen was the stand out in the film.

Wasikowska and Cohen stand out

It wasn't hard for Cohen and Wasikowska to stand out really as the film is filled with some awful performances. Johnny Depp is not in this film as much as the first but he is just as bad to watch. After the criticism received from the first film and his performance in 'Black Mass', I was hoping that Depp was maybe turning a corner and would've tried to have made things right in this film. Unfortunately he does not and his wacky ways of the first one as just as unenjoyable this time around. Just as bad once again is Anne Hathaway and Helena Bonham Carter. This is actually quite depressing as all three of these performers are capable of wonderful things and have done so in the past.

In 2011, Alice in Wonderland won two Oscars for Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design as well as having another nomination for Best Visual Effects. It is highly possible that this may happen once again as it is a truly beautiful film in the terms of it's visuals. Everything looks fantastic once again and is so appealing to the eye. I seen this in IMAX and it was worth it as it added to the effects and made them look even better than they normally would. This does make the film that bit more bearable but unfortunately can't completely save the film.

The concept of time travel and the characters within the Alice franchise really should great something that is great fun. It has potential to be a very fun film and due to it not succeeding at this, it makes it hurt even more so. A real opportunity missed to get this franchise back on track which it sadly failed to deliver.

Final Verdict = 

A very nice looking film with a couple of good performances. Unfortunately the other performances let this down as well as the story not working as well as it could have. Better than the first which I guess is a positive.

So have you seen the latest instalment in the 'Alice' franchise? If so what did you think of it? Once again thank you for reading my review, it is much appreciated!

By Angus McGregor