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Alice Through the Looking Glass

Mal12345

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Today I went to see Alice Through the Looking Glass with the family. (Just so you know, it's not something I would go to watch by myself, because it's a kid's movie.) Based on one non-spoiler movie review I saw beforehand, and one rumor I heard about this movie, I did not go to see it with high expectations. But I do have my own theory about such movies: if they are strong on special effects, then they are weak on plot - a lesson I learned from watching Avatar.

Alice Through the Looking Glass confirmed my theory once again. Alice - a strong feminist role model - must save the Mad Hatter's family. But in order to do so she must pass through a fantastic adventure while learning a lesson along the way. The moral of the story helped her solve a problem in the movie's "real world."

I enjoyed many of this movie's characters. Alice (ENTJ) was so-so. Her British "enemy" in the real world was great. I thought that they did a fantastic job casting <whoever-the-actor-was> in that role. The Queen of Hearts' ginormous head was distracting. And I couldn't stop analyzing the make-up job done on some of the Wonderland characters (the real ones, of course, not the digitally-created ones). The make-up was academy-award level. But since the story didn't interest me very much, I found myself wondering how many hours Johnny Depp spent in front of a mirror being done up by a make-up artist. I found other, similar minutiae to be more interesting than the movie itself. The movie itself, as a whole, I found to be rather bland, if not sterile, void of any creative impulse.

I didn't find the Mad Hatter to be very mad, as in, crazy. The movie in its entirety lacked the Wonderland mystique of being a fantastical, illogical realm. Most of the characters acted quite normal. Even the tea party redux didn't strike me as very strange. I found myself mentally comparing The Wizard of Oz and its recent movie sequel to this one: Alice is just Dorothy, the Queen of Hearts is just The Wicked Witch of the West, Time is just (well, almost) the Wizard of Oz. (I realize this last comparison is a bit of a stretch.) And Wonderland is just the land of Oz. It wouldn't be a difficult task for a screen-writer to translate Alice Through the Looking Glass into Oz terms.

If your IQ is over 90, I can't recommend this movie. If you are a "can't miss Johnny Depp's possible last hoorah" fan, then by all means, do go see it.
 

/DG/

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I haven't personally seen it, but this entire series of live-action Disney remakes has really just put me off. It seems like a lazy way for them to earn more money without putting in the effort to write a new story. Granted, the stories weren't actually original to begin with, but they did significantly alter them when first bringing them to the big screen is kind of what I am trying to get at. Sorry if my point here is unclear.

Well, the exception to this is Maleficent, which I have not seen, but I've heard is a great movie and would like to see it sometime.

Everything else has just been making me roll my eyes. I think we've had enough of these already, but they only continue to pour out it seems.
 

cosmic royal

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I might see it, though I'm not sure it will be as good as the first movie. Seems more humorous, jocular, and colorful though.
 

Totenkindly

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I haven't personally seen it, but this entire series of live-action Disney remakes has really just put me off. It seems like a lazy way for them to earn more money without putting in the effort to write a new story. Granted, the stories weren't actually original to begin with, but they did significantly alter them when first bringing them to the big screen is kind of what I am trying to get at. Sorry if my point here is unclear.

Not sure where you're getting your information from. I recently saw Cinderella and The Jungle Book, and both were well-done.

The Alice stuff, however, has been kind of meh. The cast was decent enough in the first one, but the storyline wasn't great.

Well, the exception to this is Maleficent, which I have not seen, but I've heard is a great movie and would like to see it sometime.

Maleficent was actually one of the worst entries in the genre. Aside from Jolie's acting, the movie had little to contribute. The movie also came in short, like it was missing material and/or had large story holes. Aside from tinkering with the character, the reframe was somewhat cliche.

Everything else has just been making me roll my eyes. I think we've had enough of these already, but they only continue to pour out it seems.

Of course they are going to capitalize on properties that already exist, but I think you're being hasty by writing them all off on principle. Some have been excellent; the Alice series unfortunately hasn't been so great.

I don't know you, but what if you have a family that wants you to go with them to see this movie?

Then we will pray for your soul.
 
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