Alice Through the Looking Glass: A Movie Review

The last time we saw Alice, she declared her independence and turned down a very prestigious lord for marriage. When we return to her world, she is returning home from an adventurous voyage near China. Things have changed since she went away, and she is forced to choose a life of adventure or a life of stability. During all this, she runs into Absoleum who brings her back to Underland where the Hatter needs her help. 

Time itself is against her as she tries to make the Hatter better, but it is Time that she must confront in order to make him well again. 

Convinced that his family is alive, the Hatter is fading with the memory of his past woes and mistakes. He wishes to see his family again because of the way that he left them: with bitterness and anger. 

Alice is determined to help her friend, but she is also bitter about her own situation. She doesn't want to leave her ship and her father's memory behind. 

She visits the master of Time at his castle where he tells her that she can't change the past, but she can learn from it. Alice doesn't listen, and she becomes determined to set things the way she believes they are supposed to be. But it all continues to follow the same pattern that it has previously. Alice cannot change the moment the Red Queen decided to be the Red Queen, or the moment that the Hatter's family was attacked by the Red Queen. She also can't change the fact that Hamish is determined to have her sign over the deed to the ship that was her father's pride and joy. 

So what does Alice do? Well, that's the important element of the story. 

I enjoyed this film as much as I enjoyed the first Alice in Wonderland. It also has important messages that I needed to hear at this moment in my life. 

"You can't change the past, but you can learn from it." - Time

" Every day is a gift, every hour and every second." -Alice

Alice can control her reaction to her circumstances, and she can appreciate all the time she has spent with her friends, new and old. 

Her decision at the end of the movie is an important one, and a lesson that very few learn. The past is past, but what matters is what you are able to do now. 

I give this movie five out of five pocket watches.

The soundtrack is also wonderful, and Pink's song at the end wraps it up nicely. 

"The choice must be yours . . ."

"Alice, you cannot live your life to please others. The choice must be yours, because when you step out to face that creature, you will step out alone." - The White Queen

- Alice in Wonderland

When I first saw this film, this scene stood out to me above all others. For years I put pressure on myself, believing that the pressure was from the people around me, but it wasn't. People don't make choices for you. You make the choice yourself. And if you believe that people control you, then you allow them to do so. I have put pressure on myself for too long, and I have not listened to my own heart. I have avoided those important questions : "Who are you?" and "What do you want?".

But it's time to stop avoiding this. It's time to face my own Jabberwocky and make my decision. I will take one step forward, and I will start making my own decisions. 

I need to breakaway from the nest. I need to start paying attention to my own heart, and I need to start going after my dream, instead of just talking about it. 

No one can help me make these decisions, because these decisions don't affect them. Only I can do this, because when I face my own Jabberwocky, I will face it alone. It's time to be brave, and make the decison instead of run from it. 

How to be Alice Kingsley

Wear a beautiful baby blue dress
No corset (They are like codfish after all)
Stockings are optional (unless you're against them)
Claim to see a white rabbit in a waistcoat
Curl your hair (But it wont stay up in pins for long)
Appear very "distracted" by using your imagination
Wonder about things
Don't be like Aunt Imogene
Have nightmares about a dodo bird and blue caterpillar
Visit a place called Wonderland (or Underland)
Obtain your "muchness"
Go by the name of Um
Make sure you're the right Alice
Follow your destined path or make your own
Believe as much as six impossible things before breakfast
Befriend a Mad Hatter
Speak with Absolem
Become a champion
Obtain the Vorpal Sword
Face the Bandersnatch
Talk with a cat that can smile
Slay the Jabberwocky
Eat Upelkuchen and drink Pishalver
Explain events as "Curiouser and Curiouser"
Shrink and grow until you find the right size
Discover who you are
Claim to love rabbits "especially white ones"
Dance the Futterwacken
Board a ship called "Wonder"
Transform to "Alice"