Double Feature: Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016) & Goodbye Christopher Robin (2017)

Welcome to the next double feature! Its been at least a month since the last one and I’m slowly feeling up to writing reviews after a 2 week (or so) break after Fantasia! I did watch these two around the beginning of Fantasia Festival.

Alice Through The Looking Glass (2016)

Director: James Bobin

Cast: Mia Wasikowska, Helena Bonham Carter, Johnny Depp, Sacha Baron Cohen, Anne Hathaway

Alice returns to the whimsical world of Wonderland and travels back in time to help the Mad Hatter. – IMDB

Alice Through the Looking Glass is the sequel to the live action Alice in Wonderland. While this live action adaptation is usually negatively rated, I see the flaws but somehow these  whimsical things work okay for myself. It becomes quite entertaining. Alice Through the Looking Glass has its issues and sometimes it doesn’t work as well as it might have hoped for but there are a few redeeming traits here. Lets just get it out there that as many times as I have started reading the source material by Lewis Carroll, I haven’t finished it so I have no idea how similar it is to the book. I do feel that some things were a little over the top in possibly the way it was portrayed however, the whimsical suspension of belief is expected and never a surprise. I like over the top fantastical elements so its why I still watch these movies.

There is a lot of silliness in Alice Through the Looking Glass. The redeeming character is still always Mia Wasikowska as Alice. She is such a spectacular actress who takes on different types of roles but excels in them. In this one, I loves her outfits and the journey she takes and altogether, keeping to how Alice is with the character traits. To be honest, most of the characters from the previous film did keep in character. Which pretty much means that if you didn’t like the first one, chances are that you might not like this one as it feels a little bit even more odd than before. Something here doesn’t fit together completely and yet I never pinpoint what it is. Perhaps its the weird Anne Hathaway performance as the White Queen and the story behind her and the Queen of Hearts. There is a slight entertainment value to Sacha Baron Cohen as Time.

Visually, Alice Through the Looking Glass delivers just like the first film. The characters also carry a lot of fun elements to them and are a joy to watch. However, the story behind her fighting to retrace the Mad Hatter’s childhood and learning about the White Queen and  Queen of Hearts story as well as having Time chase her through time and space felt a little lacking. Maybe its just not so personal when Alice does learn something about herself through this but the link of everyone in those stories just doesn’t feel like it adds up to more than it should.

Goodbye Christopher Robin (2017)

Director: Simon Curtis

Cast: Domhnall Gleeson, Margot Robbie, Kelly MacDonald, Will Tilston, Alex Lawther

A behind-the-scenes look at the life of author A.A. Milne and the creation of the Winnie the Pooh stories inspired by his son C.R. Milne. – IMDB

I’m not much of a biopic person. If you haven’t noticed, I try to stay away from biopic or drama or something like that. Movies are a means of entertainment to escape from drama so its one of the reasons why they tend to be the least chosen genre in film. I still watch them but they are infrequent. With that said, its hard to resist the biopic of A.A. Milne, the man who brought to life Thousand Acres Woods and Winnie the Pooh and his gang. As much as this is about the fame of Winnie the Pooh and this world, this biopic focuses on A.A. Milne’s relationship with his son and the reason of why this fun and fictional world even exists in the first place.

If there’s something more than Pooh Bear that I can’t resist, its a father and son relationship, well any parent and child relationship usually tugs pretty hard at my heartstrings. It feels pretty genuine in the way that this whole thing is portrayed. Domhnall Gleeson has a huge part in this because he does a fantastic job at portraying A.A. Milne. His character and the father he is and the man that he is and just how what he has gone through has changed him but no one quite understands him, especially his wife, played by Margot Robbie. However, we all have something to thank in this world and even adults sometimes make the choices when they get carried away with a situation and this is how Winnie the Pooh may have saved a lot of kids and was the world for so many people but in the end, it somehow deteriorated this father and son relationship and created a misunderstanding. Its this story and this human relationship that makes this film really good.

Goodbye Christopher Robin is a fairly simple story and the feelings and relationship is so genuine that it makes it tug at our heartstrings even more. There’s a lack of communication and a bonding that grows over time because of the choices made by everyone. In some ways, it makes us wonder about this world that has given joy to so many people and yet the bittersweet feelings that come with learning about how there were sacrifices to sharing this world that A.A. Milne created with his son with everyone else and the fame and popularity ate away at their relationship. After you watch this, it feels like its a conflict that never quite gets resolved and whether it feels like everyone else had invaded into someone else’s imaginary world. Maybe I’m thinking too much into it but this movie is pretty bittersweet by the end.

Les Miserables (2012)

Director: Tom Hooper

Cast: Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Sacha Baron Cohen, Helena Bonham Carter, Eddie Raymayne, Samantha Barks, Aaron Tveit

Les Miserables is a Broadway based on the famous book by Victor Hugo with the same name.  It has gone on for over 25+ years on stage and is renowned. This movie is an adaptation of that Broadway led by the producer of Cameron Mackintosh who is also the one who put it all together on stage.  I will give you a general plot summary in case you are unfamiliar with it.  Les Miserables is about the life of a man called Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman).  He was convicted because he stole some bread for his sister’s dying child and after that trying to escape, he ended up staying as a slave in jail for 19 years.  When he gets his parole by Javert (Russell Crowe), that is where his story starts.  Valjean is angry at the world and of the prejudice and discrimination he gets because of his convict.  The cause is poverty and when the priest welcomes him, he steals his silver and runs away.  When he is caught, the priest defend him and say that he gave it to him as gifts and gets rid of the police.  He then asks him to use the silver well and become an honest man.  Flashing forward eight years later, we see that he now is the mayor and is known around the town. He lets go of Fantine (Anne Hathaway) accidentally and then leads up to her falling deeper and deeper.  In regret, he saves her and promises to take care of her daughter, Cosette.  At this time, Javert has entered into the town as the police.  He learns of Valjean’s identity and then pursues him to bring him back to the law.  Valjean quickly escapes and runs to save Cosette from the innkeeper (Sacha Baron Cohen) and his wife (Helena Bonham Carter).  After he escapes from town, we flash forward to another nine years later and they are at the brink of a French Revolution.  General Lamarque, who stands up for the people is on his deathbed and the people are getting ready to rebel lead by Enroljas (Aaron Tveit) and Marius (Eddie Raymayne).  We also see that Valjean and a grown up Cosette (Amanda Seyfried) has returned.  Through this, we get the love story that comes alive with Cosette and Marius.  We also see Eponine (Samantha Barks), who has a crush on Marius and is the innkeepers’ daughter and she helps.  Its here that the French Revolution happens and Valjean decides to help out in hopes to protect Marius. Long plot summary, I know but it was the only way that I could bring everyone into the picture.

Let me first by saying that out of the few 2012 movies I did see and I saw some really high expectation ones, this one is my film of the year for 2012.  Its not because I do love the Broadway and the music to bits.  The story is fantastic.  I had my doubts about this movie even though I was pretty hyped up about it.  Knowing the musical itself very well, this could have easily bombed, as most musicals adapted into movies turn out.  This one had wonderful voices to support it.  Thats one of the most important parts because it is ALL singing.  The dialogue is sang just like the original musical.  Now that we are on music and vocals.  If I was to treat this as a standalone film, its perfect.  However, I do know the actual musical, there was a few issues with casting.  Russell Crowe has a beautiful voice but I didn’t think it was strong enough for the role of Javert, but since he nailed the last solo song that he performed, I let it pass.  Hugh Jackman really made the role his own.  The BEST role was Fantine as she was captivating and just pulled at my heartstrings.  However, if I was to put a weak link, I’d say it would be Amanda Seyfried.  She has a very sweet voice and she did a pretty good job as Cosette but her voice wasn’t as high so it turned a bit shaky and that bothered me a bit.  I was extremely shocked by Eddie Raymayne.  That guy is a wonderful actor and has an amazing voice and just his expressions when he did his solo was just amazing.  I’d also like to give special mention to Samantha Barks, as she is a really awesome Eponine.  She also played this role for the 25th anniversary in concert performance and she was fantastic in that as well.  I’d really like to see her in more movies because she makes a pretty good actress.  Another special mention is to the priest who did the role of Jean Valjean in the 10th anniversary musical.  Although, I think Jackman got some pointers from him on being a good Valjean because there are similarities in the way  he expresses it.  I wonder if that did happen.

Another thing that a lot of people seemed to criticize was the close up shooting of the characters.  I actually thought that it did add to the movie experience because above all, this is a musical and a lot of the acting is in how they express themselves in their faces and perhaps less their movements.  I can tell how it could be bothersome at times, but nothing beat the biggest thing that is unique to my movie experience and thats French subtitles for the lyrics flashing at the bottom which cut off part of the performer’s face because of the close-up.  It comes with the territory though, so what can I say? It was something I had to live with.

Another mention has to go out that this is produced by Cameron Mackintosh who is the one who put together the musical in the first place.  To me, he is renowned for putting together successful musicals and seeing him being the producer of this already gave it so much  more promise.  Very pleased with that!

It turned my New Year’s Eve into a slight cry fest because it was just so emotional.  To have me cry in public is not a easy thing to do, but I did because it was done so well.

This movie is a must-see because its probably the best musical that has been made so far.  I highly recommend it if you are into musicals.  If you aren’t, it might be harder for you to enjoy it.

Hugo (2011)

The third movie on my plane ride and I’m at a loss of words.  Hugo is a masterpiece in whole.  I had wanted to watch Hugo for a long time but never found the chance.  Now I know that I missed out.

Let’s not get ahead of myself here. Hugo Cabret is about a young boy who runs the clocks in the train station of Paris. He is searching for missing pieces to find the secret message that he believes his father left him.  This search allows him to meet the owner of a toy shop at the train station called Georges Melies (Ben Kingsley) and his goddaughter  Isabelle (Chloe Grace Moretz). The story is a story full of themes of finding passion, adventure and magic. Hugo has to find his purpose at the same time as he believes that if he found out this message, he would find himself in a way. Instead, in the process he changes the life of the people he meets.

Let me start with saying that I love the cast.  Ben Kingsley, Chloe Grace Moretz was stellar in this.  I have never seen the boy who plays Hugo, his name is Asa Butterfield but man, he is a great young actor.  I was impressed with him.  I have seen Ben Kingsley in a few movies and he never fails to make me love him even more. He was so charming and mysterious in this movie.  I love Jude Law to bits and he had a cameo in here as Hugo’s father.  As always, he was amazing in his little role. It also had Sacha Baron Cohen who played Monsieur Inspecteur, who is the guard of the train station and his little story plays out in a cute little thing with Lisette (Emily Mortimer).  Both did a pretty good job and gave the movie a certain dynamic and charisma.  Another character that played a supporting role was Mama Jeanne, Georges wife, played by Helen McCrory. I never knew her name before, but she is a great actress.  This was solid acting all round.

Other than the characters, this movie was visually stunning.  I loved the directing and how they shot the film.  It was beautiful from the scenes of Paris to the insides of the clock towers with the mechanical gears all around.  The background music was also a plus.  When the music had just started at the beginning, I already felt mesmerized.  This movie was great from beginning to end.

I haven’t seen a movie that I’ve praised this much in a long time.  It was simply amazing! I highly recommend it for sure!