“Alice Through the Looking Glass” is a triumph of eye-popping visual images, but not much else. This is a fascinating film to watch if you enjoy cartoonish computer graphics, but the convoluted story and acting leave much to be desired. Even those who were fans of Tim Burton’s 2010 “Alice in Wonderland” will leave this film wondering what went wrong.

The new “Alice” story is a bit of a sequel and a prequel, thanks to some time traveling which finds Alice (Mia Wasikowska) giving up her career as a sea captain (in Victorian England, no less) to take another fantastic trip down to the Underworld. She is hoping to save The Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) who is perishing from a broken heart over the loss of his family.

To put things right, Alice decides to steal something called a chronograph and travel back in time, which is possible thanks to a new character, Time (Sacha Baron Cohen). He makes an interesting villain, but not quite the formidable opponent required to truly stop Alice from arriving at the film’s predestined happy ending.

The evil Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter) puts up a much more spirited fight, and the film would have definitely benefitted if it had focused on her sisterly spat with the seemingly good White Queen (Anne Hathaway).

But no, the messy time travel story takes center stage. It’s designed to give us plenty of spectacle, so you can expect fantasy chases and PG-rated action sequences, but alas, no genuine heart or magic. The film does feature plenty of bombast to keep the younger kids enthralled, but there’s very little that stays with you past the final credits.

Even the characters fall flat this time out. Depp is still quirky, but his character isn’t as fresh as it was in 2010. Mr. Time gets to mouth lots of puns, but that’s not really the secret to a memorable fantasy character. All of the strange supporting players similarly fade in to the background, including Alan Rickman in his final performance before his death. It’s a sadly forgettable ending to his remarkable career.

All of this is a bit of a surprise considering that director James Bobin did such a good job juggling the humor and the heart in “The Muppets Movie.” Sadly, this time out, we get a lot of noise but very little that’s worth remembering. No matter how much you may love the Lewis Carroll’s famous fairytale characters, there’s no reason to follow “Alice Through the Looking Glass” this time around.

Movie reviews by Sean, “The Movie Guy,” are published bi-weekly in “The Port Arthur News” and seen weekly on KFDM and KBTV. Sean welcomes your comments via email at smcbride@sbgtv.com.com.