Alice Through the Looking Glass

Bearing little resemblance to Lewis Carroll's literary sequel, this live-action fantasy begins in 1874 with Alice Kingsleigh (Mia Wasikowska) as an intrepid sea captain, cleverly evading pirates (almost as though she'd been taught by Capt. Jack Sparrow). Arriving home in London, Alice must choose between losing her late father's merchant vessel or leaving her widowed mother homeless. Familial business dealings grow tedious until the familiar blue butterfly (voiced by Alan Rickman) leads Alice through a large mirror…aka Looking Glass. Back in Underland, Alice finds the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) deeply depressed, mourning the loss of his Hightopp family. If she can travel back through the “Sea of Time,” Alice might be able to save them, but that involves stealing the whirling Chronosphere belonging to Time (mustache-twirling Sacha Baron Cohen). As part of her quest, Alice discovers how a sinister childhood deception triggered the huge-headed Red Queen's (Helena Bonham Carter) petulant anger toward her own sister, the White Queen (Anne Hathaway). While screenwriter Linda Woolverton endeavored to create backstories for many of Carroll's classic characters—with a nod to Victorian-era feminism—director James Bobin injects too many steampunk distractions into an already implausible and incoherent plot. A confusing, expensive extravaganza that makes for a disappointing sequel, this is an optional purchase. (S. Granger)