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MirrorMask
Directed by: Dave McKean
Starring: Stephanie Leonidas
Genre:
Fantasy
Run Time: 101
min.
Release Date:
January 2005
On The Web:
Official
Site
Teaser:
Movie Trailer
Reviewed by
Byron Merritt |
With a little help from
Neil Gaiman's masterful writing, and Dave McKean's able artistry and
direction, the Jim Henson Company makes a fantasy-filled return to the
silver screen.
I was a big fan of The Labyrinth and, even more so, The Dark
Crystal in the '80's. The excellent puppetry work combined with
human characters was a novel idea, far beyond Sesame Street, and
formatted more for the adult who has a kid's mentality. I was curious to
see how The Henson Company might have advanced in the intervening years,
and I wasn't disappointed. Gone are the puppets (to the chagrin of some)
and in their place are CGI screens that boggle the mind — a living
tapestry that slowly trundles by.
Creating screen shots that mimic a painter's canvas, this movie is pure
eye-candy (think Alice In Wonderland meets Van Gogh). Although
the opening few minutes felt more TV-esquire than magical, they were
quickly whisked away by the sumptuous middle and ending of the film.
The story: Helena, a teenage circus performer along with her mother and
father, is having the usual surges of defiance. She doesn't want to be
in the circus anymore, and she and her mother have a heated argument in
which Helena wishes her mother dead. And during the evenings performance
under the big top, Joanne, Helena's mother, collapses and falls into a
coma. It is quickly discovered that she has something seriously wrong
with her (although it's never defined, a brain tumor is easily
surmised). Helena is riddled with guilt over her nasty words and falls
asleep one night, and wakes up in a world of muted colors and magical
creatures. Giant stone beings, masked love-interests, idiot
cat-sphinxes, and a growing darkness that threatens to envelope this
alternate world.
As Helena moves her way through this strange land, we begin to
understand that she isn't asleep nor dreaming. This is real. But she's
traded places with another, less likable Helena who is destroying her
life back in the "normal" world. Helena sees this "other her" through
the drawings she's done that decorate her bedroom wall. She looks
through sketched windows, watching helplessly as the "bad" Helena argues
with her father, makes out with a boy on her bed, and generally wreaks
havoc.
It is soon discovered that the reason the world the good Helena now
inhabits is falling into darkness is because of the imbalance created by
the trading of places by the two Helenas, and our heroine has to find
something called the MirrorMask to help set things right. The search is
a puzzling heroes journey that pulls her deeper and closer to a wickedly
dark queen. Helena struggles with growing up and becoming a stronger
person as she walks, runs, and flies through this surreal landscape,
trying to get back to her family and, most importantly, to her mother's
sickbed.
This is a great movie for adults to take their teens to. It'll give them
something to discuss as their children grow and have to face the muted
colors of adulthood.
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Image from MirrorMask
DVD cost: $15.99
Purchase:
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Film Review Stew
Favorite?
Yes.
Stew Poo-Poo? No.
Newsworthy:
During the circus montage
at the beginning of the film, there is a brief shot of a hand twirling a
set of crystal balls. This art is Contact Juggling, created by
performance artist Michael Moschen and originally debuted in the Jim
Hensen film Labyrinth (1986), which inspired this film.
Movie Quote: "It's
a gateway on which the whole world balances."
Other Actors/Actresses
from MirrorMask
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