THIS film does not tell the story that Lewis Carroll wrote.

It’s a fictional fantasy on a well-worn theme – the megalomaniac determined to conquer the earth, the solar system or even the universe. Sacha Baron Cohen plays the Lord of Time splendidly, controlling everything pertaining to the particular moment.

How does that relate to the plight of a young woman seafarer who feels she must travel back in time to resurrect the Mad Hatter’s family, all now deceased? Why should she bother? In a period when her real-world life is turning very sour, she feels a need to help her best friend.

On her first visit to Wonderland, Alice met the Hatter and his tea-party guests, the Red Queen, the tart-making Queen of Hearts and the Tweedle Twins. But what she and these characters do through the looking glass is old hat that we’ve seen too often in various forms in films of little merit. The computer-generated images are up to standard but James Bobin’s direction is listless, as are the principal performances from Mia Wasikowska as Alice and Johnny Depp as the Hatter.

Lewis Carroll began writing “Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There” six years after “Alice In Wonderland”, which Tim Burton made into a tolerable film six years ago. Linda Woolverton wrote the screenplays for both. “Wonderland” was fine for kids approaching double-digit age and up. If your youngster enjoys the book, be prepared to explain why the film bears no resemblance to it.

At Palace Electric, Dendy, Capitol 6 and Hoyts.

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