The story does have an episodic nature like the book does and while not as wonderfully weird or humorous there is plenty of fun, charm and heart to be seen. The music and songs right from the opening title sequence bring a great deal of charm to the adaptation and move the story forward, I Wasn't Meant to Be a Queen will bring great amusement- same with The Backwards Alphabet- though Some Summer Day, Alice is Coming to Tea and Keep on the Grass are very whimsical and the Jabberwock Song is creepy.
It felt like a nostalgic hearkening back to all the great TV network adaptations of the time(look to the Mary Martin version of Peter Pan for reference), and that was really nice.
Of all the versions of Through the Looking Glass it's this one that's the most beautiful visually, there is a reason why the costumes won an Emmy, the photography while slightly TV quality is still professional and the sets really do have a sense of wonder(did The Wizard of Oz influence it by any chance?). In fact, my only complaints are some corny and too-family-friendly dialogue and the random throwing in of the three witches which didn't really do anything for the story. Every adaptation however does deserve to stand on its own, and stands on its own this version does, despite its infidelity to the book it is very pleasing in its own right. Overall, I'd recommend Alice Through the Looking Glass if you are looking for a light movie, maybe a weekend matinée.If you want a faithful adaptation of Through the Looking Glass look to the BBC adaptation or the Natalie Gregory adaptation(which covers both Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass), as other than the title and the characters- and to a lesser extent Humpty Dumpty's Song Twas Brillig- this musical version is probably the least faithful version to the book. Another reason was that I had just finished watching Tim Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory which I loathed, so Through the Looking Glass felt like a Burton-esque film that wasn't garbage. I was expecting it to be unwatchably bad.
Maybe one of the reasons I didn't mind this movie was because my expectations were appropriately grounded. I thought there were fine too not earth shattering nor dull. The big thing about this movie were the special effects. I thought he was a solidly balanced character that I enjoyed watching. Sure, I can see that in terms of his accent but I don't think it's a minus point to the movie. In one review, someone said that Sasha Baron Cohen's performance of Time was just Cohen doing an impression of Werner Herzog. The performances were all perfectly good. In Through the Looking Glass, we can just have an adventure. I suspect that that might be the case because with the first one, the crux of the movie is the spectacle that is Burton's interpretation of Alice in Wonderland we have to introduce all of the characters and tie them all together with an adventure. While I didn't see the first one, my wife did and she thought this one was better. We've got Johnny Depp returning as the Mad Hatter but he's just kind of in the background doing his thing instead of being center stage.
How's that for a spoiler free plot teaser? Any-who, the first thing I would like to note about this iteration of the franchise is how it's not directed by Tim Burton and you can tell because we aren't being beaten over the head with whimsy. Alice has to, once again, go into Wonderland to save the day even if it means traveling through time.
In this adventure, the Mad Hatter (Depp) is dying of sadness because he believes that his family (long thought to have perished at the hands of the Jabberwocky) is actually alive but just lost. Bottom line: The perfectly OK Alice Through the Looking Glass is getting pretty terrible reviews but I don't really know why it makes me want to ask, "What were you expecting?" 2.5/4 Alice Through the Looking Glass is the sequel to Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland.