Madagascar - Series Retrospective (DreamWorks Animation Retrospective #2)

Greetings, folks, and welcome to another installment of a new series of retrospectives here on Rhode Island Movie Corner that will be covering the numerous films produced by DreamWorks Animation. Given that the studio has produced more than forty films up to this point, I decided to do the same thing that I did with my retrospective series on Walt Disney Animation and split what would’ve been a ridiculously massive single post into separate parts. But whereas the Disney retrospectives were divvied up by decades, I decided to start off the DreamWorks series by focusing on the company’s biggest animated franchises; in other words, the ones that, at the very least, have yielded a trilogy of films. This, of course, began with a look at one of the indisputable juggernauts of animation, Shrek, and today, we move on to the second major DreamWorks franchise that reached the trilogy mark, Madagascar. Primarily developed by the directorial duo of Tom McGrath (who has since gone on to direct other DreamWorks films like Megamind and the Boss Baby films) and Eric Darnell (who co-directed DreamWorks’ first computer animated film Antz), the Madagascar series follows a group of animals from the Central Park Zoo who find themselves forced to survive on their own in the wild. While the series was never much of a runaway hit with critics, it has been a relatively consistent performer at the box-office as its three mainline installments and one spin-off collectively grossed over $2.2 billion worldwide, which does make it DreamWorks’ second highest-grossing franchise to date (bested only, of course, by Shrek) and the industry’s seventh highest-grossing animated film franchise overall. So, let’s not waste any more time and get ready to “move it, move it” as Rhode Island Movie Corner proudly presents its retrospective on the Madagascar series.

(Also, for those who may have missed the Shrek retrospective, the one major ground rule that I set up for these DreamWorks retrospectives is that I’ll only be covering their feature film output and none of the TV shows that any of their IPs have spawned which, in this instance, includes the Penguins of Madagascar series on Nickelodeon that I did watch a couple episodes of when I was younger, the Netflix series All Hail King Julien, and the prequel series Madagascar: A Little Wild that recently released its final season on both Hulu and Peacock.)

MADAGASCAR (2005)

As I alluded to in the intro, Madagascar is often seen as a franchise that got better as time went on, and in some cases, it’s easy to see why when looking back at the original Madagascar from 2005. Despite an impressive $556.6 million run at the box office (which made it the sixth highest-grossing film of the year), reviews for it were average at best. Going back to something that I mentioned in the Shrek retrospective, this was right around the time when DreamWorks Animation was garnering quite a bit of a reputation amongst its biggest critics for allegedly making nothing but pop-culture-dependent kiddie flicks that, as financially successful as they were, didn’t hold a candle to the likes of Disney and Pixar. And by most accounts, this was another instance of DreamWorks trying to one-up Disney as they managed to get Madagascar out before Disney’s ‘Central Park Zoo animals travel to the jungle’ film, The Wild, thus resulting in the rare instance where Disney was accused of ripping off DreamWorks even though The Wild had been in the works for much longer. Conversely, this film’s sequels/spin-offs were released during a time when DreamWorks films finally started to rely less on the studio’s established formula. Still, as much as I can see why its sequels are largely seen as superior films, the first Madagascar, just like the first Shrek, has always been a strong personal favorite of mine. For starters, I’d argue that this film is right up there with Shrek as one of the most quotable films of all time, whether it’s Marty yelling ‘Oh, Sugar Honey Iced Tea!” when he runs away from an angry Alex (think about it for a second and you’ll see what I mean 😉) or the Penguins finally reaching their desired location of Antarctica and immediately declaring “Well, this sucks!”.

Overall, the first Madagascar does succeed in being a light-hearted comedy adventure that, admittedly, is often just as light when it comes to its writing. Sure, part of this can be attributed to the fact that the filmmakers had to cut a pregnancy storyline involving Gloria (as well as a blossoming relationship with Melman) to avoid a PG-13 rating, but despite centering on a quartet of main protagonists, the film largely focuses on Alex and Marty. Still, for what it’s worth, everything with Alex and Marty, from Marty’s desire to experience life beyond the Central Park Zoo to Alex’s increasingly deranged state due to a lack of food nearly resulting in him eating Marty, is nicely handled from an emotional standpoint, thus emphasizing the strength of their friendship. And just like Shrek, this film thrives on its great ensemble cast of characters headlined by the lovable lead quartet of Alex the lion (Ben Stiller), Marty the zebra (Chris Rock), Gloria the hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith), and Melman the giraffe (David Schwimmer), not to mention a scene-stealing turn from Sacha Baron Cohen as the hilariously self-obsessed Julien, king of the Madagascar lemurs. In short, while it may be far from being the best animated film of its time, the original Madagascar has just enough of a decent emotional hook to its proceedings that it ends up being more than just your standard early 2000s animated film. As such, it’s easy to see why this ended up becoming DreamWorks’ next big film franchise after Shrek which, admittedly, isn’t something that a lot of the studio’s other films at the time were able to do.

Rating: 4.5/5

MADAGASCAR: ESCAPE 2 AFRICA (2008)

With the original Madagascar becoming DreamWorks’ biggest hit at the box-office since the first two Shrek films, it’s not that surprising to see that a sequel was put into development not long after its release; thus, in 2008, the adventures of Alex, Marty, Gloria, and Melman continued with Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa. In this film, the Central Park Zoo gang seemingly find themselves on the way back to New York by way of the old derelict airplane from on top of the lemurs’ big tree. However, when said plane inevitably crash lands, the gang find themselves directly on the African mainland where they each find themselves dealing with their own bits of personal drama. Alex ends up reuniting with his long-lost parents but struggles to reacclimate into his old lion pride, especially due to the antics of his father Zuba’s (Bernie Mac) conniving rival, Makunga (Alec Baldwin). Meanwhile, Marty comes across a bunch of other zebras but soon finds himself undergoing an identity crisis when he realizes that his new zebra friends all look, talk, and act just like him (which means, yes, every zebra in this film is voiced by Chris Rock). Finally, Melman begins to try and express the romantic feelings that he has for Gloria, a process that’s complicated by a potential relationship between her and local womanizer Moto Moto (will.i.am). So, right off the bat, one of the first things that Madagascar 2 does better than its predecessor is that it does a better job of balancing out the roles of its main protagonists. Sure, Alex is still largely the central focus at the end of the day, but since this film finally utilizes the romance subplot between Gloria and Melman that had to get cut out of the first film to maintain its family-friendly rating, Madagascar 2 ends up being more of a true ensemble piece.

In general, Escape 2 Africa feels far more committed to the process of fleshing out its main characters rather than just focusing on its humor. Don’t get me wrong, this is still primarily a comedy as is usually the case with DreamWorks films, but whereas a film like Shrek the Third lost sight of its story and characters as a result of its overt focus on trying to match Shrek 2’s sharp and fast-paced wit, Escape 2 Africa manages to find a much better balance when it comes to managing its humor and its emotional beats. And when it comes to the former of those two, this film does an excellent job of following the example set by Shrek 2 by having its comedic moments come at you faster and harder, resulting in what is quite arguably a much more upbeat and energetic film when compared to its immediate predecessor. Sure, most of the new characters introduced here are, admittedly, one-off characters who don’t return for the sequel, but there are still some solid performances from the likes of Bernie Mac (in what was ultimately one of his final roles following his passing in 2008) and Sherri Shepherd as Alex’s parents Zuba and Florrie and Alec Baldwin as Makunga, a classic example of a ‘love to hate him’ antagonist. Thus, with all that and some significantly improved animation, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa is very much the same kind of superior sequel that Shrek 2 was for the Shrek franchise. As much as I do still love the first Madagascar film, especially because it’s the one film from this franchise that I have the most history with (by comparison, I never owned this film on DVD but did rewatch it several times over the years), it’s hard to deny that the second film improves upon several of its predecessor’s biggest shortcomings. And as we’ll soon see, this didn’t end up being a case like the Shrek franchise where its overall success with critics peaked with its second film.

Rating: 5/5!

MADAGASCAR 3: EUROPE’S MOST WANTED (2012)

Co-directors Tom McGrath and Eric Darnell were joined by a third director, longtime DreamWorks storyboard artist/director (as well as the voice of fan-favorite Shrek sidekick Gingy) Conrad Vernon, for the third installment of the Madagascar franchise, Europe’s Most Wanted. As the title suggests, the film sees the Central Park Zoo gang forced to go on the run across Europe after running amok in Monte Carlo as they tag along with a fledgling circus to try and return home to New York all while being pursued by Captain Chantel DuBois, an utterly imposing and seemingly unstoppable Animal Control agent who seeks to capture her #1 target, a lion, and add its head to her wall. And to conclude the point that I’ve been making throughout this retrospective, Madagascar 3 proved to be the franchise’s biggest critical and commercial hit upon its release. While Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa’s $603.9 million run was a significant improvement over the original’s box-office haul, Madagascar 3 managed to top that with a $746.9 million haul, which is currently the fourth-highest total that any DreamWorks film has achieved (bested only by the three Shrek sequels)… and one that, admittedly, no other DreamWorks film since has managed to top. It also pulled off a feat that most threequels never come close to achieving by garnering the best reviews in franchise history to the point where it most likely managed to win over those who weren’t too big on the first two films.

After Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa did a fine job of adopting a more rapid-fire style of humor, Madagascar 3 goes even further with that approach, resulting in a non-stop barrage of visual comedy that’s bolstered by some of the sharpest animation that this series has seen yet. Much of this is thanks to the film’s scene-stealing villain DuBois, whose borderline psychotic antics (as well as Frances McDormand’s truly committed performance in the role) provide many of the film’s best comedic bits. As usual, though, the other new additions to the cast (namely, the Central Park Zoo gang’s new friends at the circus) are solid as well, including Bryan Cranston’s Vitaly, the circus’ gruff star performer tiger who was traumatized by a disastrous past performance, Jessica Chastain’s Gia, a trapeze-savvy Jaguar who forms a romantic connection with Alex, and Martin Short’s Stefano, a happy-go-lucky sea lion. In short, while I may not have the same kind of history with this film that I have with the first two Madagascar films (to put this into perspective, the rewatch that I did for this retrospective was only the second time that I’d ever watched it), Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted is, indeed, a high mark for the franchise. It fully embraces the madcap tone and atmosphere that the franchise had slowly but surely adopted over the years, resulting in a highly entertaining animated comedy that works quite well even if it may not be as focused on its character development as it is with its humor.

Rating: 5/5!

Also, no regrets!

PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR (2014)

From the moment the first Madagascar hit theaters, it was clear that its quartet of highly trained penguins (Skipper, Private, Kowalski, and Rico) were shaping up to be the franchise’s biggest standouts. Naturally, DreamWorks capitalized on this as early as that same year with a Penguins-centric short, The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper, which ran in theaters with DreamWorks’ 2005 Aardman collaboration Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit and was a bonus feature on the first Madagascar’s home video release (also, it was notably directed by Beauty and the Beast co-director Gary Trousdale). Three years later, following the release of Escape 2 Africa, the penguins headlined the franchise’s first TV spin-off, The Penguins of Madagascar, which was developed by the same team behind the hit Disney Channel series Kim Possible and ran for three seasons from 2008 to 2015 on Nickelodeon and its premium cable sister network, Nicktoons. Finally, in 2014, the penguins were given their own feature film, Penguins of Madagascar (which, to be clear, had no direct relation to the show), which, like the Shrek franchise’s spin-off Puss in Boots, originally started out as a direct-to-video release before it was promoted to the big screen. Unlike Puss in Boots, however, the Penguins of Madagascar film ended up being a financial dud. While a $373.5 million run at the box office doesn’t seem that bad… the film itself sported a hefty $132 million budget. This combined with the similar underperformance of another 2014 DreamWorks release, Mr. Peabody & Sherman, resulted in the studio having to take a $57.1 million write-down. And by most accounts, this was a prominent factor in the major bout of restructuring that DreamWorks underwent in 2015 that resulted in five hundred job terminations and the closure of their longtime animation studio, PDI.

And yet, even with all that in mind, seeing how this film was relatively on par with Madagascar 3 in terms of its critical reception, it’s safe to say that if its poor financial performance and the negative impact that it had on the studio resulted in it garnering some sort of bad reputation, the film itself certainly doesn’t give off the impression that it was an all-around disastrous release. In short, the Penguins of Madagascar film is a good old-fashioned popcorn flick with a lot of bright and colorful animation and a likable bunch of characters to headline it. Heck, the film even manages to yield some surprisingly effective emotional moments by way of its primary character arc in which the largely overlooked Private finally manages to prove himself as a valued member of the team. But, of course, just like the mainline Madagascar films, Penguins of Madagascar is a comedy first and foremost, and as usual, there are plenty of great quotable lines and visual gags throughout. Much of this is thanks to some of the fun new characters introduced in this film, such as the main antagonist Dave the Octopus (John Malkovich), who has a running gag of giving out commands that turn into bits of celebrity name wordplay (for example, “Nicolas, Cage them!” and “Kevin, Bake On!”), and Agent Classified (Benedict Cumberbatch), the leader of an animal espionage group known as the North Wind who forms a rivalry with Skipper over the effectiveness of their leadership tactics. Thus, while it’s by no means the best installment of the Madagascar franchise, Penguins of Madagascar is a harmless crowd-pleaser that, above all, provides the same amounts of genuine laughs and heart as the other Madagascar films.

Rating: 4/5

And that concludes the second installment of Rhode Island Movie Corner’s ongoing series of DreamWorks retrospectives. As always, thanks for following along and be sure to be on the lookout for the next installment of this new series which, keeping in line with my plan of starting things out with DreamWorks’ biggest franchises, will tackle the Kung Fu Panda trilogy. As usual, there’s no definite timetable for its publication, but I will note that, if anything, I’m not just going to wait until the release of the franchise’s recently announced fourth film in 2024. 

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (2020) review

 

In 2000, Sacha Baron Cohen experienced the breakout hit of his career with Da Ali G Show. The show ran for three seasons, starting on Channel 4 in the UK before moving to HBO in the U.S., and consisted of real interviews with unsuspecting subjects conducted by a trio of eccentric journalists. Over the next decade, these three characters would end up appearing in their own films, including Ali G, a wannabe gangster and the star of 2002’s Ali G Indahouse, and Bruno, a gay fashionista who starred in his own titular film in 2009. However, the third of these is quite arguably the most famous of all the characters that Sacha Baron Cohen has created in his career… his name-a Borat. Yes, we’re talking about Borat Sagdiyev, a television journalist from the glorious nation of Kazakhstan. He was the focus of the 2006 ‘documentary’ Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, in which he traveled to America to learn about American culture, and to quote the man himself, it was a “great success”. On just an $18 million budget, the film grossed over $262 million worldwide and was touted by many as one of the funniest films of the year. Granted, the film did end up spawning a whole bunch of controversies ranging from lawsuits brought upon by the unwitting subjects featured in the film to the generally negative reception that it got from Kazakhstan itself, but nevertheless, it promptly became one of the most iconic comedies of its time. Not long after the film’s release, however, Sacha Baron Cohen announced that he was planning on retiring the character even though he did end up reprising the role for a few cameo appearances here and there. But then, in both 2019 and 2020, he was spotted in character, resulting in many speculating the possibility of a second Borat film. And sure enough, it is now upon us with Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, which was finally revealed to be happening back in September as an Amazon Prime Original and proves that Sacha Baron Cohen’s subversive humor still shines after all this time.

It has been 14 years since Kazakhstani TV journalist Borat Sagdiyev (Sacha Baron Cohen) released his self-titled documentary. But while it was a great success in America, it made the nation of Kazakhstan a full-blown laughingstock, thus turning Borat into a social pariah who is then promptly imprisoned in the local gulag. But then, in 2020, Premier Nursultan Nazarbayev (Dani Popescu) gives him a new assignment in which he’s to deliver Kazakhstan’s Minister of Culture (and their most prominent porn star), Johnny the Monkey, to U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration so that the country’s reputation can be restored. But since Borat infamously defecated at Trump Tower in New York during his previous visit to America, he is primarily instructed to give Johnny the Monkey to Trump’s second-in-command, Vice President Mike Pence. Once Borat returns to America, however, he learns that his daughter Tutar (Maria Bakalova), who he had only recently learned about, has stowed away with him… and is revealed to have eaten Johnny the Monkey on the way there. Not wanting to return to Kazakhstan as a failure who will be promptly executed, Borat decides to have Tutar be the gift that he’s meant to give to Mike Pence. And so, Borat begins to turn Tutar into the kind of woman who would be the perfect match for Pence, resulting in exactly what the former has always been known for; a series of encounters with random folks across the U.S. who are effectively weirded out by their bizarre antics. Along the way, though, Tutar, who aspires to become a journalist herself, begins to come into her own as she learns that women in America have a lot more freedom than the women in Kazakhstan which, naturally, ends up causing a rift between her and her patriotic father.

At this point, Sacha Baron Cohen’s style of humor is well-established. Just like its predecessor, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm mainly consists of a series of skits where the title character interacts with both regular civilians and famous folks in an unabashedly crude and stereotypical manner that always leaves his ‘co-stars’ completely dumbfounded by what they’ve gotten themselves into. And while many of these are usually done in an unscripted manner, it wouldn’t be too surprising if some of this film’s sequences were staged this time around given the first film’s popularity (which, yes, does play a factor in this film’s proceedings since Borat is forced to don multiple disguises because of how easily recognizable he is). Nevertheless, amidst all the gross-out jokes and numerous instances where Borat and his daughter act like overly exaggerated foreigners, the film dutifully maintains its predecessor’s ability to deliver some hilariously terrific satire on the current state of American politics. And while some have argued that it doesn’t quite capture the same lightning in a bottle that the first Borat managed to achieve, it manages to avoid being nothing more than a carbon copy of its predecessor by way of the cultural landscape in which it was released. The first Borat, released in 2006, primarily skewered the Bush administration and the general paranoia and overblown displays of patriotism that were sweeping the country due to the War on Terror. As for Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, it takes aim at Donald Trump’s administration and his cultish group of supporters along with the current chaos that is the COVID-19 pandemic. And in this instance, any joke that doesn’t hit is only due to it being a grim reminder that the attitudes displayed here are, unfortunately, quite accurate.

As always, much of what makes these Borat films work so well is Sacha Baron Cohen’s utter commitment to the bit. It goes without saying that he slips back into what is arguably his most famous role with ease, but as many others have pointed out over the years, he also deserves quite a lot of credit for how truly fearless he is when it comes to pulling all these stunts off, especially given the potential dangers that stem from those who are the unwitting subjects of his pranks. After all, he has gone on record stating that filming this sequel was a far more dangerous task than anything that he did in the first film thanks in large part to the, to put it as nicely as a non-Trump supporter like me possibly could, ‘enthusiastic’ behavior of Trump’s most dedicated supporters. Despite this, though, he still manages to pull through to deliver some pure comedic gold. However, he’s not alone this time around as the film also features one of the best breakout performances in recent memory from Maria Bakalova as Borat’s daughter Tutar. This is one of those roles that requires a complete dedication to all the wackiness that ensues from a production that’s headlined by Sacha Baron Cohen, and sure enough, Bakalova flawlessly commits to this film’s endless array of shenanigans. But at the same time, the addition of Borat’s daughter also brings a unique new layer to the traditional Borat proceedings, thus giving it something that I guarantee most people wouldn’t expect to see from a film of this nature, some genuinely effective moments of emotional poignancy. And yes, I recognize how ridiculous that might sound to some of you given the title character’s usual antics, but it truly is the case here. For all the instances in both Borat films in which Borat openly mocks the idea of women being equal to men, the arc that Tutar goes through in this film serves as a great reflection of the widespread push for stronger female roles in the film industry. Plus, given that the first Borat was admittedly a male-dominated feature, it’s nice to see more of a female perspective this time around.

I must admit that it was only recently when I watched the first Borat for the first time in its entirety. Despite this, however, I was very much aware of the impact that it had on pop culture in the mid-2000s because, simply put, it was everywhere. Calling it one of the most successful comedies of its time would be a massive understatement, and because of this, I can only imagine how intense the expectations were for its sequel, especially since it was released 14 years after the original. And yet, against all odds, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm is a top-notch sequel that is arguably even funnier than the original. Now admittedly, the second half of that statement may have been largely influenced by the fact that I’m more familiar with our current political landscape than anything that happened in 2006, thus making Borat’s jabs at his most noteworthy targets in this film a lot more satisfying on a personal level. But for what it’s worth, this film does manage to be its own thing even though it is very much the same kind of mockumentary-style comedy that its predecessor was. This is mainly thanks to the great addition that is Borat’s daughter Tutar (not to mention a terrific star-making turn from Maria Bakalova in the role), who brings some genuinely unexpected heartfelt moments to this intentionally crude comedy. And when paired with Sacha Baron Cohen’s sharp sense of humor, you get a film that’s just as smartly written as it is utterly bonkers. It’s also worth noting that this film was released at the perfect time, with Sacha Baron Cohen having gone on record stating that he intentionally wanted it to come out right before the 2020 election to properly illustrate how truly disastrous things have been for this country the past few years thanks in large part to you-know-who. It is, after all, one of the main reasons why he ultimately decided to bring back the Borat character after all this time, and seeing how this review ultimately got published after the results of the 2020 election were made official… well, let’s just say that this film accomplished its mission.

Rating: 4.5/5

Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016) review

(Disclaimer: The following review of Alice Through the Looking Glass will not be addressing the recent domestic abuse scandal surrounding its star Johnny Depp. Just like the sexual abuse lawsuits that Bryan Singer dealt with prior to the release of X-Men: Days of Future Past, Depp’s domestic issues are not connected to this film in any way.)

In 2010, Disney released what would become their first big ‘live-action reimagining’ of one of their classic animated films; Alice in Wonderland. Directed by Tim Burton, the film was a ‘sequel’ to the original story of the same name written by Lewis Carroll (which of course served as the basis for Disney’s 1951 animated classic) and followed a teenaged Alice as she returned to the world of Wonderland, or to be more specific, ‘Underland’, as it’s referred to in the film. Upon its initial release, the film received mixed reviews, attracting praise for its visual style but also criticism for its writing. But when it comes to its box-office performance, that’s another story because the film actually managed to join the billion-dollar club. I’m still in shock that it was able to do so given its extremely polarizing reception, though from what I hear this was primarily due to the fact that A.) since it was released in March, there wasn’t much competition in terms of family-friendly releases and B.) it was also released in 3-D, which was still a big deal at the time thanks to James Cameron’s Avatar unlike nowadays where it rarely gets attention anymore. So because of it, we now have a sequel in the form of Alice Through the Looking Glass, though like the previous film, this film is only loosely inspired by the story that shares its name (in this case, Carroll’s 1871 sequel, Through the Looking Glass). Tim Burton isn’t in the director’s chair this time around, however. Instead, in his place is James Bobin, who most recently helmed Disney’s last two Muppets films; 2011’s The Muppets and 2014’s Muppets Most Wanted. And like the first Alice, this film has been subjected to generally mixed to negative reviews from critics. It’s clear that when it comes to these films, people either really love them or really hate them. As for me, I’ll admit I lean more towards the former. Because while the film definitely isn’t perfect, there are still some genuinely good things about it that make it worth seeing.

The film opens up three years after the events of the previous film, which ended with young Alice Kingsleigh (Mia Wasikowska) taking up her late father’s business in overseas trade. However, when she returns home to London, she learns that her ‘former’ fiancé, Hamish Ascot (Leo Bill), has taken over his father’s company and plans on buying her father’s ship. Amidst all of this, Alice soon finds herself summoned back to the world of Underland to help deal with a pressing matter regarding the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp). She learns that the Hatter has been in a funk recently, claiming that the rest of his family, who supposedly died during the Jabberwocky attack (as seen in the previous film), is still alive. With his health slowly deteriorating, Alice, following the suggestion of Mirana the White Queen (Anne Hathaway), travels to the castle of the physical manifestation of Time itself (Sacha Baron Cohen) in order for her to travel back in time with the use of his ‘Chronosphere’ device, which powers all of the time in Underland. In doing so, she finds herself traveling through time, back to when the Hatter, the White Queen, and the rest of their Underland friends were young, in order to save the Hatter’s family from their supposed doom. But in doing so, Alice not only runs amok of Time himself but also finds herself once again crossing paths with Iracebeth the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter), who seeks to use the Chronosphere herself in order to change a certain event in her past that caused her to become the big-headed (figuratively and literally) tyrant that she is today.

Like the first film, this film definitely deserves recognition for its visuals and overall visual style. Clearly a lot of time went into making all of the film’s intricate visual effects and they do look really nice. With that said, however, like the first film, some might find all of the film’s CGI, which was pretty much done in the same way that the Star Wars prequels were by having the majority of Underland done in CG save for the human cast members, to be a bit overkill at times. And admittedly the writing is about the same as it was in the first film, tending to be rather messy and sometimes even a bit meandering at times in terms of its plot. However, even with that in mind, the film does at least have one major advantage over its predecessor and that is that it carries a much more pleasant color scheme in terms of its visuals. Whereas the previous film was very much a Tim Burton film with all of its gothic designs, this film has a much more vibrant look to it as a whole, which is definitely an upgrade if you ask me. Plus, the film doesn’t pull any of the rather extreme punches that the original did that did make you question if it was right to be rated PG, namely infamous scenes in which the Dormouse takes out one of the Bandersnatch’s eyes and another scene where Alice crosses the Red Queen’s moat on the heads of her unfortunate victims. So because of that, this film will definitely be easier for kids to handle than the first film. And at the very least, regardless of the film’s scriptural flaws, there really are some good messages for younger audiences, like being true to yourself and your friends and the fact that it’s okay to be a little weird sometimes. There’s actually even a few rather effective heartfelt moments.

A good chunk of the film’s heart and strong messages are exemplified by its main female lead Alice. While in the first film she spent a considerable amount of time questioning the fact that she was in Underland, resulting in her being a bit too passive of a protagonist at times, this film’s Alice is much more assertive and as a result actually becomes a pretty great ‘role model’ for young women. There’s a really great sense of confidence to her, not only in how the character is portrayed this time around but also in Wasikowska’s performance. As for Johnny Depp as the Hatter, it’s exactly what you would come to expect nowadays from Johnny Depp whenever he steps into a role that allows him to don quirky costumes, makeup, and/or accents. At this point you’re either fine with it or you’re really sick of it; me I don’t mind it. Plus, the Hatter is much more toned down this time around, though admittedly that’s primarily because he does spend most of the first half of the film in a muted state. In fact, this film definitely feels a bit more toned down in terms of how campy some of the performances are compared to the original. Though with that said, Helena Bonham Carter still relishes her role as the Red Queen, camping it up whenever she’s onscreen. The same goes for Sacha Baron Cohen as Time, although not as much as Carter. In short, I can say that, at the very least, the ensemble cast is a bit stronger this time around, mostly as a result of Bobin not cranking these characters’ personalities up to 11, which is sort of what Burton did with the previous film.

So here’s the deal with these live-action Alice films. As both of their critical receptions clearly suggest, these two films very much have their critics and quite a few of those critics have been very vocal in expressing their dislike of them. However, at the same time, it’s also clear that these films actually do have a pretty decently sized fan-base. This really can partially explain why the first film did as well as it did at the box-office and while this film hasn’t been doing anywhere near as good as the first film did from a commercial standpoint, I can tell that there will still be quite a lot of people who are going to like this film. And as someone who did like the first film, I can see why. Yes, the film does share some of its predecessor’s issues, namely in terms of the writing. Plus, like before, critics of CGI are no doubt going to take issue with the film’s very extravagant use of CG. However, this film really isn’t as bad as its low 30% rating on Rotten Tomatoes may suggest. Because despite its flaws, the film definitely deserves merit for its impressive visuals. Visually speaking, this is easily one of the best-looking films of the year. And in some ways the film actually does improve on its predecessor, namely in regards to a much brighter color scheme and a much more confident lead performance courtesy of Mia Wasikowska as Alice. So in short, if you weren’t a fan of the first film, then suffice it to say this film ain’t gonna win you over because it’s very much a sequel to Burton’s original film and fans of the books in particular are most certainly not going to be pleased with how the world and its characters are being portrayed. But if you’re someone who was a fan of the first film, then I’m sure you’re going to like this film just as much.

Rating: 3.5/5

(Closing Note: On a sad note, this film serves as the final performance of Alan Rickman, who reprises his role from the previous film as Absolem the Caterpillar (now a Butterfly). The reason why I didn't bring him up in the review is because, well, he actually isn't in the film that much. He only appears in the scene in which Alice first returns to Underland.)