The Hatter’s the Matter

Alice Through the Looking Glass Movie Review

Three years after returning from Wonderland, Alice Kingsleigh has established herself as the greatest sea captain in all of London. However, in a turn of events, the main benefactor has revoked their financial backing and she is forced to renounce her claim upon her ship. In a great fit of distress, Alice finds herself back in Wonderland (Underland) only to discover something is wrong with the Hatter. He believes his family has survived the attack by the Jabberwocky. Alice then, on a journey to discover the truth, travels through time and comes across various acquaintances at different points in their lives on a race to save the Hatter before time runs out.

Despite the amazing visual effects, a score by Danny Elfman, and astounding cast, the film underperformed at the box-office, receiving negative reviews, and grossing over $107 million. The film opened in the U.S. on May 27, alongside X-Men: Apocalypse which only added to it’s lower-than-predicted success.

The film received mostly negative reviews:

Alice Through the Looking Glass is just as visually impressive as its predecessor, but that isn’t enough to cover for an underwhelming story that fails to live up to its classic characters.” -Rotten Tomatoes

“What does this all have to do with Lewis Carroll? Hardly anything… It’s just an excuse on which to hang two trite overbearing fables and one amusing one.” – Stephen Holden, The New York Times

However, there were a few positive ratings, such as the following from Kyle Smith of New York Post, “The screenplay (by Linda Woolverton) isn’t exactly heaving with brilliant ideas, but it works well enough as a blank canvas against which the special-effects team goes bonkers.”

The film was dedicated in memory of actor Alan Rickman who voiced Absolem (the Blue Caterpillar). He died earlier this year on January 14, 2016 at the age of sixty-nine.