SHOULD I TAKE THE KIDS - Alice Through The Looking Glass

THE DETAILS:

Rated PG for fantasy action/peril and some language
Running Time: 113 minutes
Genre: Adventure
In Theaters: May 27, 2016
Starring: Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway and Sacha Baron Cohen
Writer: Linda Woolverton
Director: James Bobin

THE PLOT:

Regretful and headstrong Alice finds herself back in Wonderland, where the Mad Hatter is even more insane than usual, mourning the loss of his family. In order to save his quickly deteriorating soul, Alice is told she must manipulate time itself to find the cure. Can history be rewritten, or does time heal all wounds?

CONTENT:

Many adaptations of Lewis Carroll aren’t afraid to incorporate some of his darker subject matter, and although it veers widely from the source material, Through the Looking Glass is no different. The characters and story deal with life and death, and the dangerous places the mind can go. Our protagonists are frequently in peril from forces both understood and difficult to comprehend. No actual violence is portrayed on screen, but these scenes and the tone of the film are sometimes delivered in a frightening manner. The movie is free of drugs, sex and profanity, although several mild insults are hurled about.

SHOULD I TAKE THE KIDS:

MAYBE: 6 and Under
This Disney feature is essentially without any explicit content if that’s all you care about, but some darker themes and plot elements may be too disturbing (not to mention difficult to understand) for smaller children. The more violent 2010 predecessor (also rated PG) may be a good yardstick to use.

YES: 7 and up
School-age children should be able to handle the scarier scenes, and are more likely to appreciate the themes of friendship, sacrifice and facing your problems.



Photo: Walt Disney Pictures

REVIEW:

The House of Mouse was off to a great start in 2016, from more family-friendly films like Zootopia and The Jungle Book to the action-packed Captain America: Civil War. Unfortunately that streak has come to an abrupt and messy end with this sequel to 2010’s Alice in Wonderland.

Most of the key players are back from that Oscar-winning box-office behemoth, including Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, along with Helena Bonham Carter and Anne Hathaway as the Red and White Queens, respectively. Director Tim Burton was busy shooting this fall’s Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children and serves as producer here, making way for James Bobin, known mostly for the two most recent Muppet movies.

Like its’ predecessor, this Alice is a visual marvel, not just in portraying Wonderland itself, but also 1875 London, where a substantial part of the story takes place. Wonderfully detailed cityscapes and costumes give way to fantastical, impossible castles out of M. C. Escher. It’s all delivered with first-rate effects from a studio that has every resource at its’ disposal.

Once they laid out this lavish labyrinth, however, the filmmakers appear to have gotten lost in their own maze. Carroll’s 1871 novel is almost entirely discarded in favor of a plot that is almost impossible to describe with a straight face. Buried somewhere deep within is a meaningful story about family and responsibility, but things move along so quickly and in so many different directions that the audience is turned into Tweedledum and Tweedledee.

Not all the fault lies with Bobin, as even the best of the Muppet films aren’t exactly known for their narrative cohesion, but for their clever and charming sketches. Still, a bit more charisma and whimsy would’ve gone a long way.

Mia Wasikowka makes for an engaging Alice, and Sacha Baron Cohen is clearly having fun playing the personification of Time. Johnny Depp, meanwhile, appears to continue his recent trend of embracing weirdness for weirdness’ sake. Regardless of the impressive cast, once the time travel plotline is added on top of a land of nonsense, the world literally starts spinning out of control and falling apart.

“You can’t just make things how you want them to be,” Alice’s mother tells her early in the movie. That is unless, of course, you’re mad as a hatter.

OVERALL:

A ton of talent and resources are placed upon a thin plot structure and dull imagination that can’t support them.

GRADE: D+

COMPANION FILMS (for viewing with the kids at home):

For another PG-rated “fairy tale” starring Johnny Depp with a better story and real emotional weight, see 2004’s Finding Neverland.




Benjamin Spacek has written about film for numerous publications, most notably for the Las Vegas Weekly, where he was a reviewer from 2003-2009. He currently lives in Olympia, Washington with his wife and three children.