MovieChat Forums > Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016) Discussion > Hamish as a villain

Hamish as a villain

posted 9 years ago by trinitymplayers
4 replies | jump to latest

While I liked the visuals as well as the character Time, there is a lot I could criticize about this film. One issue that strikes me in particular is the lack of a proper villain; the closest, if any, even more so than the "Red Queen" (who really is the Queen of Hearts) is Hamish - now Lord Hamish - but he really is more of an ersatz than the genuine article. For one thing, there is nothing sympathetic about him, or even sinister, and his motive, a mere bruised ego, is flimsy to say the least. After all, since his rejection by Alice in public, he has married a girl clearly of high standing (and wealth), and now has the child he has been hoping for; hardly worth getting revenge over. You almost expect to hear someone telling Hamish to just "let it go". Also, much as he may dislike Alice, she has been bringing a lot of profit to his company, therefore it is more in his best interest to keep her as a (junior) partner, despite the views of his society concerning a woman's place in "a man's world". Even his board of directors, old fogies as they all were, would more logically view it as such, and vote against removing her.

I idly wonder how his father died, considering he seemed to be in perfect health when he commissioned Alice at the end of the previous film. A minor criticism I had was that Alice didn't at least offer her condolences to Hamish and his mother on their recent loss, regardless of her feelings towards them. Indeed, Alice didn't even seem that grieved herself, considering that Hamish was her father's former partner, and gave her that break she needed to prove herself in the real world.

[–] gorgsharpy 8 years ago

So what does that say about Alice?

[–] cupcakery 8 years ago

As much as I liked the movie, I agree with you on that.

At first I was glad they had Hamish married, and even already with a child. I thought "oh good, they're not going to rehash these two not being a good match, again." and they didn't *quite* but they did have him far to concerned about getting the best of Alice in revenge for the public refusal.

Maybe they could have played up that Alice's ventures, while reaping the company some benefit, had also been costly (ship repairs, too many expenditures buying more food and whatnot when voyages went on longer than planned, etc) and that some voyages had been less successful, losing the company money outright. She can be a good, bold captain and still have failures; that's reasonable. I mean, they commented about her return being delayed by a year, but other than her mother's worry, I don't feel like they pointed out any hardship this was for the company, really.

It would have been a good way to make Hamish an antagonist without needing to push the mustache-twirly villain angle. He doesn't need to be evil, just being a businessman unwilling to take risks and more concerned with his bottom dollar would be a very realistic way to have him be a counter, an antagonist for Alice.

And other members of the board would more easily be persuaded to side with him, if they too were concerned about losing money.

[–] LifeVsArt 8 years ago

It would have been a good way to make Hamish an antagonist without needing to push the mustache-twirly villain angle. He doesn't need to be evil, just being a businessman unwilling to take risks and more concerned with his bottom dollar would be a very realistic way to have him be a counter, an antagonist for Alice.

I don't think they made him out to be evil, more that he hasn't matured, at all - if anything he's become more petty and insecure, hence his grudge around Alice's public rejection of their arranged marriage and his delight in now putting her in her place. Hamish isn't evil, he's an insecure jerk. Victorian England was very much about class and hierarchy, Alice was bucking the system on many levels.

[–] chilone 8 years ago

Hamish was a high-toned, nose picking douchebag of the highest order who deserved to be cut up into little pieces, made into sausage and fed to Iracebeth.

I don't love her.. She kicked me in the face!!