The soothing voice of Alan Rickman shocked me out of my reverie as I settled down with pad and paper ready to take notes for my Alice Through The Looking Glass Review with my five year old.
Fly Away Butterfly
I audibly gasped and missed the first five minutes as I was transported to an era of longing, of a future without this iconic, inimitable style in our Hollywood movie lives. Once the intial shock had worn off, I felt elated that his memory would once again live on for the younger generation, if only fleetingly. Of course, these mumblings were lost on my five year old Percy who just told me to be quiet as she tried to understand the blue butterfly. Goodbye old friend, flyaway butterfly.
Sacha Baron Cohen’s Performance is Spectacular
Alice Through the Looking Glass is a triumph. It’s a feast for the eyes that never takes its foot off the accelerator. It’s a feminism dream for teens and a spring board for Sacha Baron Cohen who has firmly planted himself as a master of children’s film as an actor. In fact Sacha fit in so perfectly and adapted the role to his own unique style so eloquently that it seemed he was born to entertain the under 10’s (and those of us who refuse to give up). His performance was, in my mind, the triumph of the entire film, as he displayed real humanitarian emotions while playing Time, one of the most difficult roles for even the most experienced fantasy actors and actresses. He was phenomenal. I hope the nationals and the globals pick up on this and I hope he receives the recognition he deserves. I also hope he becomes a regular in Tim Burton’s adaptations as I, for one, would love to see him take on more roles of this kind.
It’s a feminism dream for teens and a spring board for Sacha Baron Cohen who has firmly planted himself as a master of children’s film as an actor.
Johnny Depp is Reassuringly, Predictably, Brilliant
Johnny Depp, of course, wowed as the Mad Hatter, why wouldn’t he? He set his own bar extremely high with Edward Scissorhands many moons ago and is predicatably brilliant in every role. In this, the Mad Hatter explores a larger range of emotions, and Johnny commands them all, making us feel empathy alongside frustration, indignation and grief.
The Mad Hatter house was also incredible giving me more inspiration for my own project where I’m turning the hall into an enchanted forest.
Helena Bonham Carter Brings Humanity to the Queen of Hearts
All in all, this is one not to be missed, it ties up some loose ends and makes you think about the first film again. Helena Bonham Carter dazzles as the Queen of Hearts, and brings new angles to the part.
All of the characters (except Alice, I felt) were played as multi dimensional onions with layer upon layer of nuances and new aspects of their personality to discover. Instead of the Wishy, washy good vs evil, whether it meant to or not, Alice through the Looking Glass made myself, and my five year old question if Good and Evil is really so black and white. We felt empathy for every character and we championed each personal goal, we understood Time’s frustration but we also wanted Alice to win too.
The only criticism I have is that of Alice, I felt this the first time round. She doesn’t sit quite well with me, but maybe that’s the point. She may play the part so perfectly that I’m supposed to feel a little unease and a lot of dislike for the character. I really don’t like her at all, maybe I’m jealous, maybe I want to be the star in my own private Wonderland?
In summary, this is a film not to be missed. It’s easy viewing that delves a lot deeper and makes us question our whole existence. It’s beautiful, it’s thoughtful, it’s astounding and surprising and it touches on so many human emotions that it takes the viewer through a real rollercoaster of a fantasy set in reality.
I loved it.
Alice Through The looking Glass is out on 3D Blu-Ray™ , Blu-Ray™ and DVD Download 3rd October (© Copyright 2016 Disney)
