Rating of
0.5/4
Most Pointless Sequel of 2016
Unknown - wrote on 05/30/16
'Alice Through the Looking Glass' will probably end up being my pick for the most unnecessary sequel of the year. There is no point to this film's existence from a storytelling perspective. We all know the sole reason this film was made is due to the fact that 2010's horrid 'Alice in Wonderland' made a billion dollars worldwide. I pretty much hated that film for almost everything it did. Those same negative criticisms carried over to this lame continuation. Everyone is either annoying in their over-acting, or boring in their lack of acting. Alice is once again a blank slate, but at least this time she seems to have a drive to do goodwill. However, that goodwill comes at the expense of destroying all of "Underworld" (forgot that it's not Wonderland in these movies). This time travel plot sees her stealing a time traveling vessel, from Time himself, in order to rescue the Mad Hatter's family. This is the only resolution to the Hatter's sudden sadness that comes about by his sudden remembrance of his lost loved ones - despite the fact he was reminded of them in the first film when giving a sentimental narrated flashback of their demise. The sadness is slowly killing him, for some unexplained reason. The character of Time is also slowly dying due to Alice stealing the time jumping vehicle that simultaneously powers his giant clock that keeps the universe in check. So, basically our hero is a selfish, dumb, asshole. But it's all because she is a headstrong female who doesn't conform to society's gender roles. You know, that message they completely botched in the first film. She jumps further into the past, with each visit showing us a visual explanation for how the Mad Hatter and the Red Queen came to be the way they are presently. It's all completely unneeded extraneous exposition that slows the movie down. The Mad Hatter's past is nothing but a longer repeat of everything he needlessly explained in the last movie, but the Red Queen's past is just plain stupid. The reasonings behind her begrudging anger and large head are idiotic face-palm worthy asides that I could've done without ever seeing. Halfway through Alice finds out that no matter her efforts the past cannot be changed. What does she do? Keep time jumping, of course! Ugh... A twist happens upon her return to the present that renders her whole adventure pointless and takes away the impact of the film's time centered message just to have a contrived happy ending. Endless story issues aside, there's no other areas to mine for positives. From the actors' collective non-involvement, to the bland sameness of the previous, to the intangible visuals and lack of anything originally creative; this film fails on almost every level. It's a boring, shallow, corporate manufactured product devoid of any enjoyment.
