Lately I’ve been saying “I wish I hadn’t seen it in 3D” a lot, especially as regards action-heavy movies like “Captain America: Civil War” and “Batman v. Superman.” In those outings, the miracle of the third dimension seemed like an afterthought.
It was also — for this easily-destabilized viewer, anyway — actually detrimental to the movie-watching experience. A good rule with 3D is to stop whipsawing the camera around if you want people to track what’s going on. If I’m going to watch an action movie, I’d like to be able to see the action.
So whatever issues I might have with “Alice Through the Looking Glass,” it’s still refreshing to be able to say that the 3D is a treat. The film, a rather late-arriving sequel to the 2010 Tim Burton hit, looks as though it had been designed with 3D as a guiding influence.
Once again, the movie uses the Lewis Carroll characters but invents its own story. Alice (Mia Wasikowska) is now a ship captain in real life, but falls back into Wonderland after passing through a mirror.
Her new adventure involves the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp again). Alice must seize a gizmo to send her back in time to save the Hatter’s family, an effort that also affects the past of the big-headed Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter).
Sacha Baron Cohen plays Time, the lord of thousands of clocks and watches. He has some funny moments, in part because Baron Cohen is speaking in a voice that sounds like Arnold Schwarzenegger mixed with Werner Herzog.
The supporting characters from the first movie don’t get much screen time here, although we do touch base with the March Hare and Tweedledee and Tweedledum. Anne Hathaway is still fluttering around as the White Queen. The butterfly is voiced by Alan Rickman, in his very last movie work.
Screenwriter Linda Wolverton insists on bringing psychology into a world that really doesn’t need explanations. There isn’t much Lewis Carroll here.
At least streamlining the story makes it easier to sit back and enjoy the digital wonderland on display. That’s the real point of this film, as “Muppets” director James Bobin crams every inch of the screen with gaudy landscapes and wacky creatures.
On the technical level, “Alice” is an achievement. The design is so colorful and the 3D so bright and seamless I wish there had been less story and more surrealism.
The giant close-ups of the Red Queen’s already-giant head practically dare you to ask “How’d they do that?” As 3D extravaganzas go, it’s a little more fun than trying to figure out whether Batman is punching Superman as the camera flies around the digital murk.
“Alice Through the Looking Glass” 2 1/2 stars
A sequel to the 2010 hit, stronger on colorful 3D effects than storytelling — if only the movie had ditched its blah story altogether, this thing might be fun to watch as surrealism. Mia Wasikowska returns as the plucky Alice, with Johnny Depp still daffy as the Mad Hatter.
Rating: PG, for subject matter
Showing: Alderwood Mall, Cinebarre, Edmonds, Everett, Monroe, Marysville, Stanwood, Meridian, Thornton Place, Woodinville, Cascade Mall, Oak Harbor
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