Review of Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016) by Pipec — 04 Jun 2016

"Alice Through the Looking Glass" Is Shamelessly Worse Than Its Predecessor.

"Alice in Wonderland" directed by Tim Burton was a flawless success at the box office in 2010, and with just reasons, the colorful and gothic style of the team managed to give them two Academy Awards (for Art Direction and Costume Design) . Lewis Carroll's classics have been adapted to the big screen eleven times, and apparently it is feasible creation of other few. The scarcity of the sequel is Burton, his absence is irrefutable and although works as executive producer, his imagination and taste cries out for the reins of the film. This time, James Bobin (The Muppets) is director, his vision is broad and great-looking, but comparisons with Burton make presence on each frame evidenced. It seems that Disney forgets that it is better win a victory that a failure because of the ambition.

From a screenplay written by Linda Woolverton, adapted to the books of Lewis Carroll, "Alice Through the Looking Glass" presents to an Alice (Mia Wasikowska) a little more older - really - returning of offshore after three years, preserving the illusion of return to sea. But her hopes are frustrated when her former aspiring boyfriend, Hamish (obnoxious and pretentious played by Leo Bill) takes over the boat her father and her house, inciting her to sell the important boat, stay with the house and with a humiliating and discriminatory work. Alice's problems do not stop there, the blue caterpillar (Alan Rickman, deceased and respected actor) visits her to seduce her to resolve certain matters of her interest in the Wonderland.

After an characteristic entrance of the Carroll books, Alice faces a terrible - and stupid, excuse the expression - news, her friend, the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) is slowly dying. The only solution to restore the vitality of the eccentric young is go back in time and help to recover his family apparently dead, experiencing millions of adventures and eccentricities, accompanied by spectacular landscapes and performances for nothing unpleasant. A small sub-plot is seen to involved in the story of Alice, the truth behind the White Queen (Anne Hathaway) and her sister, the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter), an interesting addition to the footage.

The story is one of the fundamental obstacles, lack of a strong and wide idea, makes that the 113 minutes of duration becomes tedious, stressful and the worst soporific, making viewers to cover their mouths, but not of amazement, of boredom. It seemed as if Disney had chosen to adapt the drafts of the wastepaper basket of Carroll, yeah, they wanted that Hatter had importance in the plot, but the magic disappeared. A work of such magnitude should be edited precisely, but this time, they exaggerated.

Fantasy and adventure sequences are indeed impressive, accompanied by an exaggerated, but required use of visual effects, minor or equivalent to the of its predecessor. However, the lush visual effects aren't the sufficiently skilled to hide a slow pace, an inconsistent script and a pale and slight story.

Characters are distorted and dispel - some - of its strict behavior in books, however, Alice, Mad Hatter and the Red Queen steal all eyes. I'm in total disagreement that the role played by Mia Wasikowska is uniform, awkward and boring, not alluding to books and hampering adaptation, I believe that she is the precise woman for the role and if at some point has failed is the fault of the scriptwriters. Our blue caterpillar performed by professional and king of the acting ,Alan Rickman, was spectacular, serene and substantial, worthy of a so complete and amazing career of a man and an actor who will always be in the heart of the world, rest in peace, Alan.

This is the first time that Disney surprises, and not in the way that everyone thinks. With a clear influence of female discrimination in Hollywood and the capacity to decide, Bobin and Woolverton had to leave their idea, just like that, an idea. Slow, lacking of the energy, palpitating continuity and charisma of its predecessor, "Alice Through the Looking Glass" offers a visually majestic spectacle, however, they confused the audience with babies, we are not stupid, so many colors and singularities lack narrative imagination, I think that the 'Wonder' disappeared.