LastingAware The greatest movie ever!

Tedfoldol everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Comwayon A Disappointing Continuation

FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Neil Welch The two Alice books are must-read classics, and have found their way onto screen in many different versions. James Bobin's film is a direct sequel to Tim Burton's Wonderland film: both take their names from Lewis Carroll's books, but neither takes any more than characters from them: Alice Through The Looking Glass is another original story.The end of Burton's Alice In Wonderland movie saw our heroine ditch her nerdy fiancée and go off to sea. Through the Looking Glass starts with a dramatic sea chase, before Absalom the Butterfly (voiced by Alan Rickman in his final cinema work) calls her back to Underland, where the Mad Hatter (now named as Tarrant Hightopp) is pining away for his lost family. Alice's adventure - seeking the Hightopp family - involves her stealing a time machine from Time himself, a menacing personification of entropy, who is understandably miffed at having this mechanism nicked, especially given that it has the potential to unravel reality.In short, the story has nothing whatsoever to do with Carroll's book. Having said that, it's not a bad story - it holds the attention, has lots of eventfulness and action, illuminates some of the characters, offers a couple of emotional moments, and allows Johnny Depp to mug from under the Hatter's elaborate makeup. I preferred it to the story offered in the previous film.The visuals are, as expected, impressive, and Sacha Baron Cohen's Time is a good addition to the cast. Rhys Ifans as the Hatter's Dad makes less impression. The reservations I had with the first film are still there - Barbara Windsor is just plain Wrong as the voice of the dormouse, naming the characters is both unnecessary and irritating, Anne Hathaway's White Queen's airy-fairy affectations get on your nerves, and Helena Bonfire Carter's Red Queen is still nicked wholesale from Queenie in Blackadder.Mia Wasikowska's Alice is pleasingly feisty, more so than she was in Wonderland. And so we come to Johnny Depp's Mad Hatter. We've seen the character before, of course, and Depp once more gives us the gentle, lisping, well-spoken and slightly barmy Hatter who has a bond with Alice, as well as the occasional psychopath from the Gorbals. To these he adds the declining depressive, a sad reflection of the heartier main iteration. But ultimately they are all Johnny Depp doing funny voices under funny makeups and, despite their appeal, I do find myself wondering if Depp has now overdone the heavily disguised eccentric phase of his career.This is nonetheless an enjoyable film, more so than its predecessor.

Razinmd Just saw on Netflix, not even interested to watch it but put it up to entertain my young niece while i browse away on the phone. But from the quick glances, eventually it pulled me in by the stunning visuals, beautifully crafted and unique constumes, special effects are feast for the eyes and the oh so wonderful witty and melodious dialogue was captivating and heartfelt. I never read Lewis Carroll before, only watched the movies or Disney cartoons. This is wonderful movie and a joy to watch. Main cast was amazing especially Johnny Depp, Mia and surprisingly Sacha Baron Cohen whom I'm not actually a fan, but his character was so interesting. Love this. Such an underrated movie. Watching this again later with full attention.

sherylchilders82 I really liked this. I also really enjoyed the first movie, probably a prerequisite to liking this one. Yes, it had familiar and campy parts, as we expect with Hollywood movies, and it wasn't too dark like a typical Tim Burton film (which I usually don't like), so maybe that's why I did like this. (He directed the first one but not this sequel). While I own every Disney animated movie, and I usually don't love or buy Disney live action / animation mixed films, this series was an exception for me. I'm also not normally a fantasy fan. But, the unique whimsy and imagination of the Disney version of Alice in Wonderland, with its psychological twists, is special to me. It is certainly not meant to make sense scientifically, though it loosely references real science with the cosmic time waves in space (they dip in and out of time from the sky). But, that is the beauty of this version - its totally illogical story is a wonderful escape for the overly logical of us. If you're the over thinking type, like me, watch this with a glass of wine or two - it is meant to be enjoyed without being analyzed. And if you can do that, you will get the point of it. I sense from those who disliked it that their consensus was that it was superficial or uninspired, to which I highly disagree. To me, it was thoughtful, moving, and carried on the tradition of the original Disney Alice in Wonderland, which is what I think the creators intended. And the original was special for the very reason that it was different and quirky, something that proved to be defining and valuable, not immediately, but over time.

Screen_Blitz Tim Burton's reimagining of Lewis Carroll's 'Alice in Wonderland' in 2010 was far from anything special, but its ability to engage the audiences with its dazzling visual imagery in an effort to distract the director's drift from the familiarity of the source material proved to be enough to make a head-spinning earning at the box office. After sitting through this film's follow-up, which picks up shortly where the end of the film left off, I was only left pondering with the question of why a sequel was even remotely necessary. With Tim Burton reassigned to the producer's chair, James Bobin takes over the director's role in attempt to squeeze the small remaining juice out of the source material, but does with results that are a bit underwhelming to say the least. This film, following the eponymous character on yet another adventure through Wonderland dazzles with just about everything from the visuals to the quirky humor that made granted appeal to its predecessor except a satisfying story. What Bobin's leaves us with is more of a roller coaster ride through a cave of wacky cartoon imagery than a cohesive family fun picture. The film focuses on Alice (played by Mia Wasikowska) who disappears through a mirror and into the magical world of Wonderland where she reunites with the White Queen (played by Anne Hathaway), bobbled head twins Tweedledee and Tweedledum (both played by Matt Lucas), the chesire cat, and white rabbit. They inform her of the urgent news of the Mad Hatter (played by Johnny Depp) growing ill due to his depression of the loss of his family. To save the poor man from his fate, Alice must travel back in time with the help of Time "himself" (played by Sacha Baron Cohen) to change the course of events that led to the death of family at the hands of the Red Queen (played by Helena Bonham Carter).For a continuation on Lewis Carroll's classic source material, you would think that writer Linda Woolverton would come up with a premise little more thoughtful than what is sold here. Sadly, that is the only beginning of the misdeed that drives this fairy tale into diminishing effect. The best thing James Bobin's wrings out the picture is an overwhelming barrage of colorful visual design of the whimsical world of Wonderland completed with bloated CGI that pits Aussie actress Mia Wasikowska with the daunting task of interacting with mysterious creatures who only exist in the computer. Wasikowska manages to pull it off and Bobin's makes a fabulous attempt at springing the imaginative world to life. But for everything and everyone else though, that is another story. Wasikowska is left adrift in a story that, while has its moments, never gets truly engaging. The moments of excitement are scarce as the film pedaling swiftly from subplot to another without giving any of the classic supporting character a time to shine. It is especially disappointing for Johnny Depp's Mad Matter who stole the show in the previous film, and is succumbing to a performance that is more vexing than charming. If there is anyone even remotely as charming as Wasikowska here, it is Sacha Baron Cohen, giving a quirky impression of his loopy character. On the other hand, the fun is left to the climax when Alice and the rest of the characters are forced to make a daring attempt to save Wonderland as the entire place from ground is up is morphing into rust. It's too bad however, that lot of the pulse-pounding excitement is left buried under an uninspired plot while the visual effects are left to stand out with open arms. On the bright side, it does make a sweet visual ride with who happen to see this in 3-D.Alice Through the Looking Glass is an underwhelming fantasy ride that benefits from striking visual methodology that manages stick out among the uninspired mess of a story. That is not to say this doesn't make for a wholesome family entertainment, but there are certainly better options to say the least.