Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016)
Genre: Fantasy
Certification: PG
Duration: 113 minutes
Directed by: James Bobin
Starring: Johnny Depp, Mia Wasikowska, Helena Bonham Carter, Sacha Baron Cohen, Anne Hathaway, Rhys Ifans
KRS Releasing Ltd

Lewis Carroll's much-loved heroine Alice returns to the big screen for more fantasy adventures in Alice Through the Looking Glass, going through a mirror and then travelling back in time to help her friend, the flamboyant Mad Hatter.

Mia Wasikowska meets a depressed Johnny Depp in her adventures in Alice Through the Looking Glass.

The colourful movie, filled with special effects, follows the 2010 box office hit Alice in Wonderland, with Johnny Depp, Mia Wasikowska and Helena Bonham Carter returning as the Mad Hatter, Alice and the Red Queen, respectively.

After slipping through a mirror, Alice (Wasikowska) finds herself back in Underland with the White Queen (Anne Hathaway), the Cheshire Cat, the White Rabbit, Tweedledee and Tweedledum. Her friends tell her that the Mad Hatter (Depp) is depressed over the death of his family.

Hoping to save his loved ones, Alice steals the Chronosphere from Time (Sacha Baron Cohen) to travel into the past. While there, she encounters the younger Hatter and the evil Red Queen (Bonham Carter).

Critics were not so impressed with this follow-up to Tim Burton’s film. In fact, much of the criticism went towards the new director, James Bobin, who is best known for directing the Ali G TV series.

Nigel Smith of The Guardian said: “The 2010 Alice in Wonderland movie boasted some gothic magic courtesy of Tim Burton. The James Bobin-directed sequel is uninspired in comparison.”

Sandy Schaefer of Screen Rant commented on the plot: “Alice Through the Looking Glass is more of a shiny, yet hollow, Disney product than meaningful continuation of Alice's story.”

The film bombed on its opening weekend grossing circa $35 million. This was described as a disastrous start for a film with an $170 million production budget.

It also grossed an estimated $65 million from such major territories as Italy, Russia, the UK, Australia and Brazil.

Ratings
IMDB: 6.5/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 30%
Empire Magazine: 3 stars

A Hologram for the King (2016)
Genre: Comedy-drama
Certification: 12A
Duration: 98 minutes
Directed by: Tom Tykwer
Starring: Tom Hanks, Alexander Black, Tom Skerritt, David Menkin, Ben Whishaw, Sarita Choudhury
KRS Releasing Ltd

The film directed by Tom Tykwer is based on the 2012 novel of the same name by David Eggers.

Tom Hanks feels like a fish out of water in Saudi Arabia in A Hologram for the King.

Cultures collide when an American businessman (Tom Hanks) is sent to Saudi Arabia to close what he hopes will be the deal of a lifetime. Baffled by local customs and stymied by an opaque bureaucracy, he eventually finds his footing with the help of a wise-cracking taxi driver (Alexander Black) and a beautiful Saudi doctor (Sarita Choudhury).

The film earned mixed reviews, with critics saying it does not do justice to the source material.

Peter Travers of Rolling Stone wrote: “The major themes that rose naturally from Eggers's clean prose feel shoehorned in by Tykwer.”

However, critics showered praise on the protagonist, Hanks. Stephen Holden of the New York Times wrote: “It takes an actor with the finesse of Tom Hanks to turn a story of confusion, perplexity, frustration and panic into an agreeably uncomfortable comedy. But that’s what Hanks accomplishes.”

Jonathan Pile of Empire Magazine said that the film “struggles to make itself stand out, content instead to coast by on gentle comedy and Hanks’s charm. Pleasant but ultimately forgettable”.

Ratings
IMDB: 6.3/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 67%
Empire Magazine: 3 stars

The Angry Birds Movie (2016)
Genre: Fantasy
Certification: U
Duration: 97 minutes
Directed by: Clay Kaytis, Fergal Reilly
Voices of: Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad, Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph, Bill Hader, Peter Dinklage, Sean Penn
KRS Releasing Ltd

The 3D computer-animated action-adventure comedy film is based on the video game series of the same name and reveals why the birds are so angry.

The Angry Birds Movie reveals how Red (voiced by Jason Sudeikis) became angry in the first place.

The film takes the audience to an island populated entirely by happy, flightless birds – or almost entirely. In this paradise, Red (Jason Sudeikis), a bird with a temper problem, speedy Chuck (Josh Gad), and the volatile Bomb (Danny McBride) have always been outsiders. But when the island is visited by mysterious green piggies, it's up to these unlikely outcasts to figure out what the pigs are up to.

The fim received mixed reviews, with some critics negatively saying one could not expect any better from an adaptation of a mobile app and others saying it is irresistibly funny.

One thing is for sure: The Angry Birds Movie soared at the international box office with an estimated $150 million on its opening weekend.

Ratings
IMDB: 6.4/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 43%
Empire Magazine: 2 stars