Movie Reviews: Alice Through the Looking Glass ★☆☆☆☆

Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016)

Director: James Bobin

Genre: Adventure, Family, Fantasy
Running Time: 113 minutes

Starring: Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter

Did anybody ask for a sequel? Did anyone wanted to see more of Depp's Mad Hatter? I seriously doubt it. The first film (Alice in Wonderland (2010)) was overstuffed and predictable, but it looked pretty. The sequel is nothing more than that: very overstuffed, very predictable and very pretty. 

Let's (try and) start with the good stuff. Mia Wasikowska is always a joy to watch. She's proven herself to be a diverse actress during the last few years with Track (2013), Maps to the Stars (2014) and Crimson Peak (2015). It's unfortunate she's stuck in such a poorly written role. I liked the creative visual effect (well, some visual effect: because Tweedledee and Tweedledum are truly horrifying). The 'sea of time' was a nice idea and it was generally well thought out. I am, however, not willing to call a movie 'good' because it looks good. Every movie that has come out the last ten years looked good, but special effects are no indication of quality.

The main problem of the film (besides a sloppy script and unnecessary side characters) is Johnny Depp. His Hatter is even more annoying than it was in the first film. Depp acts like he is a 10-year-old. Helena Bonham Carter's Queen of Harts is also nothing more than a big head yelling and screaming. These characters (plus basically everyone else) were (kind of) intersting and original in the first movie, but now it's just repetition, repetition, repetition. Also, I get that it's family film so it's not going to a serious, dramatic film. But when I was in the theatre no child laughed. Neither did I. Okay, it's not as unfunny as the Mad-Hatter-dance from Alice in Wonderland (that truly was one of the worst moments in the history of film), but the jokes are, just like the rest of the film, unoriginal. The film needed a much better script and is in dire need of new (interesting characters).

★☆☆☆☆