London, 1875. After several years at sea on the boat of her deceased father, Alice returns home. She wants to continue exploring the world but discovers that her embittered ex-fiancé has taken revenge: he has seized her mother's house to force Alice to sell her boat. Overwhelmed, she finds a way to return to Wonderland to escape reality. Welcomed there by her friends, she learns that the Mad Hatter has become deeply sad at the news that his family is alive. Alice decides to save him by stealing a magic solution to affect time itself, which may plunge even Wonderland into chaos ...

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The good news: it’s not any worse than Tim Burton’s digital nausea of 2010, loosely adapted from the classic by Lewis Carroll. The sequel (this time by Muppets director James Bobin) stays with the formula: Mia Wasikowska again meets up with Anne Hathaway (a wasted effort) and Helena Bonham Carter (who adds nothing new) within a light plot revolving around Johnny Depp, buried under tons of makeup and special effects. There is little imagination in this project driven by the billions gained at the box office by Alice in Wonderland; Alice Through the Looking Glass is on autopilot and dominated by awful sentimentalism. Only a few nice ideas, like a tidal wave of engulfing the world, are fun and to help digest this big budget movie calibrated for younger, less demanding minds.