Mirror Mask

[Krazedmuppet]

Just saw Mirror Mask. Well, I have to say it was one of the worst fantasy movies Ive ever seen. The lack of money is clearly visible in every frame and in the boring script. I also hated the visual "style"... it just looks cheap!
Too bad, as I had high hopes for this one.

At first I thought the same thing, but really I think its supposed to look like that. Its supposed to look kinda 2d, like her drawings.

 

[Laszlo]

At first I thought the same thing, but really I think its supposed to look like that. Its supposed to look kinda 2d, like her drawings.

Yes, I know. But IMO its just a cheap excuse. They thought: "Hey, we only got 1 Million to do a Labyrinth-like movie. Lets keep the design simple and cheap."

 

[RedPiggy]

To be fair, Labyrinth looks cheap too. I like to think that the environment was influenced by Sarah's mind to look like a set (since she's into plays). If the "Cheapeast Muppet Movie Ever Made" uses a lack of a budget as the joke, are people going to gripe that it looks cheap?

 

[beaker]

@Lazlo, etc:

While technically it may be a "Jim Henson Company film", its really
a Dave Mckean film. It wasnt spose to have a classic Creature Shop look. If you go on youtube and type in "Dave Mckean short"
youll see how MirrorMask looks EXACTLY like all his other amazing music videos and short films.

MirrorMask was amazing, and as a huge Mckean fan since the late 1980's it was so great to see a feature film of his work. In fact I saw it twice in theaters, driving almost two hours the first time.

Again, its really a film for fans of Neil Gaiman/Dave Mckean, and of surrealism than it is for people expecting Creature Shop. The look to me isnt cheap in the least, they could have had 300 million ala Avatar and I would have wanted it to have the same look.
*just rewatched the dvd the other night*

Also...Pan's Labyrinth while rather brutal at times, actually does have a bit of a creature shop feel to it.

 

[frogboy4]

I found MirrorMask to be beautiful, but self-indulgent and it marred the Jim Henson Company's motion picture cred for years. It's not a film in any legit narrative sense. It's an experimental artwork. That is the only way it works. It should never have been marketed as a movie. Neil Gaiman finally came back into this frogboy's good graces with last year's Coraline. Now that's a movie and a fantastic story.

 

[The Narrator]

I didn't mind MirrorMask and think it had some really nice scenes, but it was a movie best for "bits and pieces" rather than the whole for me. I rented it, but had no compulsion to buy it.

...It did offer a great rendition of "Close to You", if nothing else.

 

[DrmaticEmphasis]

I enjoyed (though didnt LOVE) MirrorMask... Though I am a HUGE HUGE HUGE Neil Gaiman fan.

 

[beaker]

I found MirrorMask to be beautiful, but self-indulgent and it marred the Jim Henson Company's motion picture cred for years. It's not a film in any legit narrative sense. It's an experimental artwork. That is the only way it works. It should never have been marketed as a movie. Neil Gaiman finally came back into this frogboy's good graces with last year's Coraline. Now that's a movie and a fantastic story.

Well, it mostly played in art/indie theaters...and trust me, I've seen so many films at indie theaters that make MirrorMask seem like Rush Hour or Fast and the Furious. (once saw an 8 and a half hour art film with virtually no dialogue at the Castro called "The Cremaster Cycle", and then saw the followup to it "Drawing Restraint 9" at the SF MOMA)

 

[beaker]

I didn't mind MirrorMask and think it had some really nice scenes, but it was a movie best for "bits and pieces" rather than the whole for me. I rented it, but had no compulsion to buy it.

Ok...I'll admit...despite seeing it twice and theaters and singing its praises for years...

The first act of the film doesn't really grab me, and its not really until she goes into the alternate world that it really holds my interest. The Library scene, Close to you, and Floating Giants scene really blew me away.

But its essentially a Dave Mckean film, and you can see his other shorts which look exactly like MirrorMask:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=998yVS_c-JA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5iAn-8l7W8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCtuP41Y5xM

 

[Krazedmuppet]

Yes, I know. But IMO its just a cheap excuse. They thought: "Hey, we only got 1 Million to do a Labyrinth-like movie. Lets keep the design simple and cheap."

Hey when you got a budget, you got a budget