My Review Of MirrorMask: An astonishing experience

[Daylight]

I got to see Mirrormask yesterday! The imagery is magical. I haven't seen anything else like it. It took a little while for me to warm up to the characters but I absolutely loved them by the end. It's kind of a real classical girl comming of age story, but set it an extremely unique fantasy world. I'd been wanting to see this movie for ages and when I heard it was only comming out it selected theaters I wasn't sure I'd have a chance. I wasn't even sure if it was comming out in Canada so I almost gave up on it. It was just pure luck that I happpened to be looking through the movie section of the newspaper a couple of days ago and caught an ad for it. So, for anyone living near Vancouver, British Columbia, Mirrormask is currently playing at Tinseltown. Don't miss it!

 

[DTWolf]

My own review

I saw the movie last week.

Overall review (containing only mild, vague spoilers):
"Surreal" is the best word to describe the visuals of this film, from start to finish. What's interesting to me is that the first five minutes after the credits, at the circus, are probably MORE surreal than the fantasy landscape Helena goes to later.

I apppreciate the pacing of this movie. They didn't try to shove her instantly into the other realm but let that come in its own time. You had time to see Helena and learn about her life and the crisis situation with her mother. And the quest part of the story too is not rushed; although they have to run away from things sometimes, I never had the feeling the movie-makers were forcefeeding me action sequences and explosions and shoving me into the next scene so they could get to the next special-effects shot. There's a dream-like leisurely quality to the progression of the plot. That might be "dragging" or "slowness" in other films, but in this one it is totally appropriate and fits perfectly.

I read one review that referred to Helena as "self-centered." I thought Helena was going to be a bad-attitude case, a stereotypical sullen youth. I'm glad she wasn't. From the start I could sympathize with her. "Living this way isn't MY dream," she says, and she's right--her parents decided this for her, and it is unfair that she has to live with the consequences. On the other hand, that's life, and we all have to live with the consequences of our parents' choices, from where we live to how much income the family has to much deeper concerns; so she's got to learn to cope with it.

There were one or two moments that were emotionally very rich. Helena "confessing" to her father while she drew on the roof was moving and very real.

I enjoyed the movie and I'm glad I got to see it on the large screen. I'm sure I'll get the DVD when it's available. However. . .

Criticism (containing SPOILERS that are more specific):
Helena looked pretty silly when she was given her "dark makeover." The hairstyle was all right for the Queen, but on Helena it wasn't so effective. (But those manikin-robots were CREEPY CREEPY CREEPY! Carpenters fans beware!)

There was a crucial plot element that I really hated. When a certain character walked up the steps of an ominous building after leaving Helena, I thought, "Oh no, they're not going to do THAT, are they?!?" And of course they did. What a disappointment that they fell into this worn-out formula: Protagonist (main character) enters strange land; Protagonist meets Native Friend; Protagonist and Native Friend journey together; Native Friend betrays Protagonist to Villain; Native Friend is seized with remorse, repents, and "makes it right" by helping Protagonist escape and finally complete the quest. To put it more simply: Valentine pulls a Hoggle. We saw it in Labyrinth, it shows up in the Narnia books, and I've seen it in enough places enough times that I'm bored stiff with it. I know Neil Gaiman could have come up with something better than this. It didn't ruin the whole movie for me, I still liked the film as a whole, but it was a real let-down to see such a tired cliche used as if it could really have any dramatic effect. How lazy.

 

[SurfPark]

I've never seen a movie like this before. This past week I rented it and was amazed by how surreal the visuals were. There was something done in the lighting to make the other world appear as an old movie. I was just amazed on how the digital sets added a sense of fantasy to the scenes. I can't imagine it on green screens!

DTWolf, the formula you're talking about is what I call the "Wonderland" formula, in which the character enters a world, befriends someone, overcomes a challenge and returns to the real world wiser. Its been done a million times. I was wondering if Valentine's character in the "other world" was the same one at the end of the film. He either is a look-alike or he lost his memories.

I swear the faces on those cats scared the heck out of me.

 

[DannyRWW]

I was wondering if Valentine's character in the "other world" was the same one at the end of the film. He either is a look-alike or he lost his memories.

I kind of felt it was meant for us to question if it was a dream or not.... kind of like the Wizard of OZ...Valentine is a great Character btw. How is it that this movie is not nominated for an Oscar for visual effects?

 

[Kimp the Shrimp]

i 'll be watching it anyday now it just arrived

 

[DTWolf]

DTWolf, the formula you're talking about is what I call the "Wonderland" formula, in which the character enters a world, befriends someone, overcomes a challenge and returns to the real world wiser. Its been done a million times.

Oh, yes, that kind of quest story is probably as old as humanity. It's the particular "friend becomes a betrayer" part in Mirrormask that irks me. It was out of place in this film.