The movie theater lobby standup display for "Alice Through the Looking Glass" is one of the best ever, with a distorted silvery mirror reflective area perfect for selfies.

That's one of the best things that can be said about the sequel to the 2010 "Alice in Wonderland" that starred Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter.Depp, who disappears under the whiteface makeup, doesn't seem to have as much screen time in the sequel. When he's on-screen, it's although he's a finalist in the International Mug-O-Rama contest.The other characters come and go with dizzying speed. As directed by James Bobin from a screenplay by Linda Woolverton and produced by Tim Burton, "Alice Through the Looking Glass" sacrifices story and character development to comic book superhero-style special effects in the "Oceans of Time" sequences.Even in the Imax 3-D format, for which "Alice Through the Looking Glass" was seen for this review, the movie is a numb-inducing, overly-produced, loud soundtrack mess."Alice Through the Looking Glass" is based on "Through the Looking-Glass" (1871) by Lewis Carroll, which was his sequel to "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" (1865).In "Alice Through the Looking Glass," the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) is depressed over the disappearance of his parents. Alice (Mia Wasikowska) tries to help him by taking a Chronosphere from Time, literally a character named Time (Sacha Baron Cohen), and time-traveling to find his parents.Characters are similar to those in the Carroll book by name alone: the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter) and the White Queen (Anne Hathaway), Tweedledum and Tweedledee (Matt Lucas), the Cheshire cat (voiced by Stephen Fry) and Humpty Dumpty (voiced by Wally Wingert). The voice talent includes Micheal Sheen, Timothy Spall and the late Alan Rickman.The prologue, which gives Alice a background circa 1874 of that of captain of a tall ship owned by her family's shipping company, is interesting as are the scenes for this aspect of the storyline, which bookend the movie.The visuals are intriguing, with the exception of the "Oceans of Time" special effects. Scenes that involve Time and the huge clock mechanism are a nod to the steampunk movement as are the scurrying and "Transformers" movie-like characters that assist Time.The actors seem lost. Even Sacha Baron Cohen seems to be off his form. Helena Bonham Carter doesn't fare much better, especially given the CGI enlarging of the Red Queen's head. Hathaway flutters about to no good effect.Wasikowska ("Stoker," 2013; "Jane Eyre," 2011), as the ship captain, anchors the film with expressions of wide-eyed wonderment, bewilderment and exasperation. She and Depp have too few scenes of dialogue.The screenplay is a misfire for Linda Woolverton ("Maleficent," 2014; "Alice in Wonderland," 2010; "The Lion King," 1994; "Beauty and the Beast," 1991), who went down the rabbit hole of creating and including too many new characters rather than expanding the primary source material.Director James Bobin (director, "The Muppets Most Wanted," 2014; "The Muppets," 2011; creator-writer-director, TV's "Flight of the Conchords," 2007-09; writer-director, TV's "The Ali G Show," 2003-04) gives the film an air of desperation."Alice Through the Looking Glass" is a big disappointment. Even the music by Danny Elfman doesn't seem to help. "Alice Through the Looking Glass" is not worth your time."Alice Through the Looking Glass,"MPAA Rated PG (Parental Guidance Suggested. Some Material May Not Be Suitable For Children.) for fantasy action peril and some language; Genre: Adventure, Family, Fantasy; Run time: 1 hr., 53 min.; Distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.Credit Readers' Anonymous:"Alice Through the Looking Glass" is dedicated to Alan Rickman (1946-2016). His voice role as Absolem the caterpillar in "Alice Through the Looking Glass" was his last before he died Jan. 14, 2016 at age 69.Unreel,June 24:"Independence Day: Resurgence,"PG-13: Roland Emmerich directs Maika Monroe, Joey King, Liam Hemsworth and Jeff Goldblum in the science-fiction action film that takes place two decades after the first "Independence Day" film. Yes, there's a new invasion."The Shallows,"PG-13: Jaume Collet-Serra directs Blake Lively, Óscar Jaenada, Brett Cullen and Sedona Legge in the thriller about a surfer attacked by a great white shark."Free State of Jones,"R: Gary Ross directs Matthew McConaughey, Keri Russell, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Mahershala Ali in the biographical war drama about a poor farmer from Mississippi who leads rebels against the Confederate army.Two popcorn boxes out of five popcorn boxes.