Customer Reviews
Dreamlike, surreal, amazing, unique.... - By: M. Evans, 25 Nov 2008 
...are probably the words that could best describe Mirrormask. It's an astonishing looking film, probably a little too bizarre for some people but if you like anything that's a bit strange, unusual & fantastical than you should find plenty to like here. The visuals are amazing, & the film achieves the rare feat of capturing the look & feel of a particularly strange dream you might have had. It's perhaps a little slowin places & the storyline might be a bit too simplistic, but it's the atmosphere & look of the film that is it's main strength & I can honestly say I've not seen another film that even remotley resembles Mirrormask - it's unique & unique films are a rarity to be treasured. Highly recommended, but it's a film that viewers will either love or hate. I love it.
Unwatchable - By: Ian Armer, 25 Sep 2008 
Well, I managed about 30 minutes & then had to turn it off. A fairytale with no magic, visuals with no sense of wonder, murky & multi layered sfx, leadenly scripted & so uninvolving it leaves one bewildered. Even worse is that the visual language & pace of the film adamantly refuses you accessin an attempt to be different & radical. The berserk music score also annoys. On the plus side the female lead is very good, but then so what? Quite possibly one of the worst films ever made. Zero stars.
Arty and boring British film - By: flingthecow, 11 Jun 2008 
I don't mind arty films if there's decent writing too..but this film was just producation design & creative CGI. Very original looking, but not enough to hold your attention past half an hour, which is when I gave up. I think art & film students would get something from it, but that's it.
Disappointed.
Intriguing If Too Abstract - By: B. Quincy, 20 Apr 2008 
Having watched Stardust & finding it okay, I found that one of my suitemates had left his copy of Mirrormaskin the dormitory for spring break.
Being a newcomer to Gaiman/McKean, I watched the extras of the DVD before watching the actual feature. So I was aware that the film had a limited budget & was very much an "independent" film.
Knowing that, the film still did not start off very promising. Tensions ensue between Helena & her mother Joanna, both members of a family-owned circus. Helena & Joanna quarrel--Helena being tired of circus life--and the row ends with Helena essentially having told her mother to die. Unfortunately, Joanna suffers an attack of sorts during the circus performance & is rushed to hospital. On top of this, Helena's father is under financial strain with regard to the circus; & the family livein a dingy flatin Brighton. With no boyfriend or any real friends (apart from her fellow circus performers) Helena's outlet is drawing (all McKean's work). Her room is papered with drawings of a city, & even the dingy terrace of the flat is decorated with many of her sketched windows & suns.
One night, Helena's sleep is disturbed when she hears a violin. Leaving the flat, she follows the sound to two menin masks playing a violin. Suddenly, a sort of CGI gangrene starts swallowing up the architecture. Helena escapes with one of the masked men, Valentine, through a door. From then on, everything is done is a very stylized CGI.
Essentially, Helena has ended upin a world that resembles her drawings. Whenever she looks through one of the windowsin the imaginary world, she can see into her bedroom, where there is another darker version of herself supposedly wreaking havoc. This other Helena is the Shadow Princess, who resembles Helenain the alternate world, which explains why Helena is constantly being mistaken for her. The crisis of the drawing world is that the Shadow Queen is desperate to reclaim her daughter & so encroaches with her shadow upon the other side of this world which is pure light. The problem, however, is that the Queen of Light isin a deep sleep & so can't defend the city. Therefore, Helena volunteers to track down the MirrorMask, which will supposedly restore everything to normal.
Yeah. It sounds dense but it's actually very simple. The light/dark dichotomy is fairly obvious as Helena has been usurped by her doppelganger & must find the MirrorMask to restore the balance.
I'd say that the simplicity of the story is the film's weakness. It feels like Gaiman pulled down a Literary Theory textbook & found Lacan's work on the mirror stage of development & Freud's work on the uncanny & crossed them with Alicein Wonderland & Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. Not that I don't like Alice or Dr.J.&Mr.H., but the film runs primarily on inconsistent & inexplicable dream logic; & the ending is rather open-ended as to whether or not it is a dream. Which is fine if you don't require closure.
That being said, I felt the film picked up quite a bit when Helena officially meets the Shadow Queen & undergoes that eerily seductive transformation when the wind-up ballerinas sing "Why Do Birds Suddenly Appear?"
It's certainly a weird film, but it's worth the viewing. I can't praise the film as a whole, but there certainly is a lot to like here.
a refreshing film - By: H. K. Stanley, 29 Feb 2008 a brillant film for those who love a fairy tale with a dark side. it has a simple storyline wich is a definate positivein this film although it could be slightly better, the ending could have been more. it has an obvoious link with alicein wonderland & is thick with subtle comments on society & intercations of people. the cgi is refeshing as it used to create a dream world not an alternate reality with its mistic surealism. for those who are a fan of dave mckean as an artist this film is a must see essential. you can tell this is a film directed by an artist yet it is not a hardcore 'arty' film. there are brilliant performances from the actors & actresses who give real & belivable perfomances. overall a thourally enjoyable flm & i hope to see dave mckean directing more fimsin the future!
