Alice Através do Espelho

The film has beautiful scenes. A movie for intelligent adults rather than children, the performances are subtle and allow for the nuances of meaning that the mathematician author placed into his book. With more obvious acting, the movie would have become clichéd. I found Kate Beckinsale's portrayal of Alice to be intriguing, particularly her insouciance in the face of insults. Ian Holm, as usual, was masterful, playing the White Knight in a way I had not thought possible. The movie is unique, a treat for watching many times.

Clear yet subtle, funny and sophisticated in its apparent simplicity: an excellent rendition of Carroll's own quirky humor, and vastly entertaining. A fine cast, appropriate staging, and a literary pace combine to make this an outstanding film. Would that it were available on DVD!

As someone who has read the Alice book's over and over again (mainly as an adult) I have been consistently disappointed with adaptations, which always focus on the surreal story while ignoring most of Lewis Carroll's brilliant, hilarious jokes. But this version of Through the Looking Glass doesn't give us musical numbers or turn it into a simple children's tale (or, alternately, create a dark, satirical adult version) but instead gives us Lewis Carroll, faithfully. The logic-based jokes, the curious puns, the abrupt insults, are all intact and glorious.

The movie begins as Kate Beckinsale falls asleep while reading Looking Glass to her child and dreams of herself as Alice. To be clear, because this point seems to elude a lot of IMDB reviewers, Beckinsale is playing the 7 year old Alice of the book, not an adult version, and not a pretend-child version. Just an adult dreaming she's a child. While I was skeptical ahead of time, Beckinsale perfectly captures Alice's mix of wonder and bemusement.

The rest cast is consistently amazing and hilarious, particularly the two queens and the two Tweedles, who are hilarious as young toughs even if they do race through The Walrus and the Carpenter so quickly that they ruin most of its jokes.

The story has the dream structure of the book, and if you're looking for a sensibly plotted story that is not something you should expect from the Alice books. It's a dream, and if you're own dreams are less confusing than this one then you have a very ordered mind. Alice jumps from one episode to the next with little reason, and poems fly thick and fast, illustrated in a variety of imaginative ways.

While most of the significant parts of the book are there, there are some cuts and a surprising addition. The Red Queen's classic run through the garden with Alice is gone, as is the entire Lion/Unicorn section (which I'm surprised to see some people inexplicably consider the best part of the book), and some scenes are truncated. Which would be understandable as a time constraint if the movie hadn't added the bit with the wig, which was deservedly cut from the original book and adds nothing. This is the one serious mistake of the movie.

It's true, as some have pointed out, that the special effects are low budget, and if you prefer a visually striking adaptation that cuts out most of Carroll's wit there are many options. But if you want to see a true adaptation of one of the funniest and most imaginative books in all of literature, this is easily your best choice.

Highly recommended.

I really enjoyed this adaptation. It was far and above better than Disney's attempt to turn what is already a children's book into a 'kiddie' film. It was, with very few exceptions, very true to the book, despite the difficulties associated with converting Carroll's unique style to a screenplay.

Something I've always felt critical to adapting both Alice stories is her precocious nature. There is truly no way a child actor could handle the scope of Alice in any film. I thought moving the story to an older Alice was wonderful. And Kate Beckinsale's performance in that capacity was outstanding. She brought to life the very childlike innocence and naivete of Alice while dealing so very well with interpreting Alice's very opinionated, stubborn and whimsical personality. And visually, she fit the role perfectly. :-)

The quirky nature and self-interpretation in this film is a wonderful way to introduce children to a complex and bizarre children's story. I can only hope that it will be available on DVD someday.

This is the best film version of the Lewis Carroll story that I've seen. Other versions usually employ comedians as actors and their performances are always way over-the-top. This version is really amusing because the dialogs are so deadpan serious. Sort of Pythonesque. I think that is how Lewis Carroll intended it to be done; that is how I read the books. I love the dialog between Alice (Kate Beckinsale) and the White Knight (Ian Holm). They are both so intense and sincere about discussing such very silly topics and that is what makes it so amusing. Kate's reactions to many of the inane things that happen is so subdued. It's perfect.