It's been a few years since the last Alice in Wonderland movie premiered and left many of us slightly confused as to what in the world was going on. Johnny Depp's performance was great, per usual, but all I remember about it was leaving the theater more confused than when I went in...which, perhaps, is exactly what an Alice in Wonderland film should be. The sequel seemed about the same to me: an enjoyable film that I'll probably never watch again.
Like usual, I headed to the theaters soon after release to see Alice Through the Looking Glass, and while there were very few people in the theater, those that were there all seemed to enjoy it. I really enjoyed Time as a character for reasons that I can't quite pin down, and while The Hatter almost got irritating at times, I loved Alice in this film. In the original I felt like her character was very one sided and flat, but here she just came alive, producing a definite highlight of the film for me.
All in all, this film just felt more colorful and upbeat than the first one, which really seems more in-tune with Wonderland. The backstory for the Hatter was interesting, and definitely kept me intent throughout the movie, but in the end I think that this also provided it's greatest flaw: the main character. The title is Alice Through the Looking Glass, but it seemed to me that the main character wasn't Alice at all. In fact, she was more of a side player who happened to save the main character: The Hatter. Considering the fact that Johnny Depp was really the stand-out star of the previous film, this isn't surprising, but at the same time it felt a bit off.
Plus, as an English major who's read Alice in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass both multiple times, I'm not entirely sure how accurate this all was to the original novel...
Truth be told, Alice Through the Looking Glass was indeed a good film, and I still recommend seeing it if you haven't already...although you could probably wait until it appears on Netflix someday just as easily.
Have a magical day!
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