It’s time for more digital thrills in the Alice Through The Looking Glass TV spot

The new Alice Through The Looking Glass TV spot doubles-down on the original trailer’s obsession with time, both the concept and its evil, teal-eyed personification played by Sacha Baron Cohen. Indeed, each moment of the new preview is punctuated by fervent ticking on the soundtrack as viewers are treated to the inner workings of the massive clockworks that Time calls home, which Alice must navigate like the heroine of a platforming game. And therein lies the rub: if you were left cold by the antiseptic, computerized mise-en-scène of Tim Burton’s original film, this one appears to have more or less the same aesthetic. You might be enamored with the bright, crooked visuals that director James Bobin (The Muppets, The Muppets Most Wanted) and his VFX artists have created—or you might wish he would stop hording the controller and let you have a turn.

Still, we’re anticipating the return of Helena Bonham Carter’s apoplectic Red Queen and the late Alan Rickman, who lends his dour-but-reassuring tones to the enigmatic Caterpillar. (We’d be lying if we said we remembered anything about Anne Hathaway’s White Queen character.) The Mad Hatter seems to have a reduced role this time around, edging a shouting, cowering Johnny Depp closer to the coveted “Jar-Jar Binks On Acid” Razzie. Finally, there’s star Mia Wasikowska, who struggles to imbue these antics with a dash of humanity. Hopefully her increasingly prevalent CG double is also up to the challenge.

Alice Through The Looking Glass premieres May 27, 2016.

 
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