Mirror mirror on the wall who is the fairest of them all?
Seems like mirror has finally found something more to do than just filling somebody’s ego. And this could be witnessed in Disney’s latest live action movie, Alice Through the Looking Glass. Over here, instead of the rabbit hole, the mirror becomes the route to Alice’s way between Wonderland and London.
As opposed to what we witnessed in the first part, Alice in Wonderland, which although had a strong visual appeal, lacked one of the crucial crux of filmmaking, and that is, storytelling. But, Alice Through the Looking Glass has craftily worked on the prequel’s shortcomings. The sequel to Alice in Wonderland, has a lot to offer and makes one glued to the seats anticipating how the movie would unfold.
With low expectations from the film due to its predecessor’s failure, this carries the potential to take the viewer by the storm. The film saw many of the ‘firsts’ from the franchise: Alice’s back and forth between not just Wonderland and London but also time, Red and White queen’s backstory (the reason behind the anguish of The Red Queen), Mad Hatter’s whole new different persona and most importantly ‘The Time’ himself.
With the face of the cat Cheshire turning into the moon, the movie right from its opening scene tells the viewers that they are in for a visual escapade. The movie that’s based loosely on the adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking-Glass showcases the evolution of Alice as a character on: how she learns to accept the past, take lessons from it and make peace with the present. Many lessons are imparted upon the viewers in a jabbering puzzling manner.
Throughout the movie, various elements of Alice and Hatter are connected to one another. From the start, we see a headstrong Alice believing that nothing is impossible, however, this thought wavers when Hatter says that she’s the only one who can bring his family back. In the quest to ail his dying friend, Alice goes on a journey to stop what happens years ago via the help of the chronosphere thus disrupting the flow of time which adversely affects Time’s health. In this journey, it’s conveyed that one cannot change the past, and if they try to, the consequences will be dire.
Certain dialogues that are worth mentioning are: “Everyone must part from it (past)” by the Time himself, “The last thing I want is to end up like my mother/father” by Alice and Hatter respectively and “The only thing worth doing, is doing for others” by Alice.
Being a fantasy adventure film, just like Alice in Wonderland, this movie wouldn’t have been possible without the wonders of the CGI and VFX. Sony Pictures Imageworks and Double Negative have yet again proved that why are they the leading VFX and CGI studios. The water stimulation which was required during the time travel scene, Hatter’s changing skin and hair colours, the travel between the two worlds via the mirror, the portrayal of the body of Time which is half-clockwork and half-human; all have been flawlessly showcased. Hats off to special effects supervisor Neil Corbould who has successfully delivered a masterpiece of visual extravaganza.
Final verdict: If you were left with disappointment while watching Alice in Wonderland; Alice Through the Looking Glass will be the table turner. Directed by James Bobin, written by Linda Woolverton and produced by Tim Burton, the movie is for a mature audience and should be witnessed on the large screens at least once.
Cast
Mia Wasikowska – Alice Kingsleigh
Johnny Depp – Tarrant Hightopp, the Mad Hatter
Anne Hathaway – Mirana (White Queen)
Sacha Baron Cohen – Time
Helena Bonham Carter – Iracebeth (Red Queen)
Rhys Ifans – Zanik Hightopp (Mad Hatter’s father)
Matt Lucas – Tweedledum and Tweedledee
Lindsay Duncan – Alice’s mother
Leo Bill – Hamish Ascot
Andrew Scott – Dr. Addison Bennett
Ed Speleers – James Harcourt
Richard Armitage – King Olureo
Voice cast
Alan Rickman – Absolem (Caterpillar)
Stephen Fry – Cheshire (Cheshire Cat)
Michael Sheen – Nivens McTwisp (White Rabbit)
Timothy Spall – Bayard (Bloodhound)
John Sessions – Humpty Dumpty
Barbara Windsor – Mallymkun (Dormouse)
Paul Whitehouse – Thackery Earwicket (March Hare)
Matt Vogel – Wilkins (Time’s long-suffering manservant)
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