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‘Alice Through the Looking Glass’ is a visual treat, but narratively unfulfilling (C)

Like its predecessor, Alice Through the Looking Glass has a lot of visual splendor. There are intriguing characters (some CG, some merely impressive feats of makeup and costumes), dream-like environments and fancy special effects. But when you look at it purely as a story, this sequel can't hold a candle to the classic Alice in Wonderland story – or even many of its modern offshoots.

Sacha Baron Cohen as Time
Sacha Baron Cohen as Time(Disney)

Following the events of Disney’s live-action Alice in Wonderland, Alice Kingsleigh (Mia Wasikowska) has become the captain of her father’s ship, the Wonder, and is clearly quite adept at navigating not only rough seas, but also the adult world. While things aren’t perfect in 1875 London, Alice shows maturity and spunk when dealing with issues of money, trade routes and a society that’s, let’s just say, a bit sexist.

Before she has much chance to get her land legs back after a journey to China, Alice finds herself led once again into the mysterious world of Wonderland, where her old friend The Hatter (Johnny Depp) has become worryingly ill. For reasons that barely make sense, even in the topsy-turvy realm that is Wonderland, the only way to save The Hatter is for Alice to steal a powerful device from Time himself (Sacha Baron Cohen) and travel into the past in an effort to save Hatter's family.

Aside from using the titular looking glass as a portal to Wonderland, this Through the Looking Glass bears almost no resemblance whatsoever to Lewis Carroll's own Alice sequel, similarly titled Through the Looking-Glass. It's an original plot based on the classic characters, which isn't in and of itself a bad (or even new) thing, but the plot does little other than serve as a vehicle for the eye candy of colorful characters and wondrous landscapes.

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Part of the problem is Alice herself. Though it’s been years since her last adventures in Wonderland, the magic she encounters throughout this sequel seems to strike her as (if you’ll pardon the pun) an old hat. Alice’s lips may read, “Curioser and curiouser,” but her body language says, “Oh, this again, huh?”

She’s clearly happy to see her old friends again, but there’s not a lot of wonderment in her eyes. I guess if you’ve seen food that can make you bigger once, you’ve seen it a hundred times.

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To be fair, the original Alice stories written by Lewis Carroll weren't always masterpieces of plot, either. But at their worst, they were journeys of metaphors, and the wonderfully poetic language could make up for a lack of substantial character development. Alice Through the Looking Glass tries to do the same with visual poetry, but the effects aren't up to the task.

Johnny Depp as the Hatter
Johnny Depp as the Hatter(Disney)

The cast, for its part, does well enough. Depp’s Hatter still sits on an interesting line between charmingly crazy and disturbingly unhinged, and Cohen’s personification of Time has enough quirks to make him enjoyable. Helena Bonham Carter returns as the Red Queen, and her gleeful abuse of other creatures is still fine, though her character motivations by the end feel half baked.

It’s also nice to hear Alan Rickman’s voice one last time as the former-caterpillar, now-butterfly Absolem, though sadly his involvement adds up to a mere handful of lines near the beginning of the film.

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For adults, there are far more interesting takes on the Alice mythos out there in a variety of mediums (comic books, video games, etc.). Even ABC's ill-fated show Once Upon a Time in Wonderland attempted more interesting things with these classic characters.

For children who just want to revel in cinematic weirdness, though, this film might suffice.

ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS (C)

Directed by James Bobin. PG (for fantasy action-peril and language). 113 minutes. In wide release.