Mirrormask

Does anyone remember this movie that was written by Neil Gaiman and directed by Dave Mc Kean? I just recently saw this movie and it was fantastic! I loved how bizarre it was and the writing was fantastic!

I watch it from time to time. It's a movie that reigns in its bizarreness and is a real treat visually.

I watched it. And loved it.

I liked it as well, particularly the Helena/Anti-Helena thing.

I have yet to see it, but whenever it's mentioned (aside from this thread) I've always seen the "Close To You" scene mentioned specifically. Today, in part thanks to this thread, I looked up that particular scene on Youtube.

Now I may never sleep again.

edited 29th Mar '14 8:25:59 PM by CorrTerek

I was surprised by the Helena/Anti-Helena thing and I was wondering if the two sides of Helena was describing her relationship with her mother (her rebellious side when she didn't want to be apart of the circus anymore and her real self where she still cares about her mother despite the fight she had with her early on in the film).

I agree on that perspective. I'd also add that the Anti-Helena also represents her more selfish and greedy side.

I agree about the robots. Not only was the song eerie, they looked a little too human and not at the same time.

I also didn't like their cheesy-looking arm warmers.

Yeah, the robots scene was actually pretty creepy! When I first saw that scene, I was like What the heck was going on here and what are they doing to Helena?

On the other hand, the other inhabitants of the fantasy land were a lot of fun to watch, especially Valentine.

I agree! I really loved the surreal and dark tone of the world that Helena ended up in and the characters looked very creative!

I've seen this movie twice on the big screen, including once at a con a year and a half or so ago introduced by Dave Mc Kean and Neil Gaiman themselves who pretty much spent the entire introduction saying how terrible they thought the movie was and trying to put blame on each other for how it turned out. It was pretty fun.

I also recall that Mc Kean delved a bit into the process of creating the movie, how he was approached by the Jim Henson studios to put together a movie in the same vein as Labyrinth basically, and how him and Gaiman spent time in Henson's old house to write the movie. Iirc Mc Kean also cracked a couple of jokes about the basement of the house being full of muppets gathering dust, and the house itself breaking apart at the time, both of which informed the writing of the movie as well as the aesthetic, or something along those lines.

I'm just quoting this from memory though so it may not be too accurate.

However for all their efforts to try and tell the movie is bad, I preferred it the second time I saw it. I think it's actually very cleverly put together, and the visuals are simply stunning, even by today's standards the CGI still looks pretty damn good.

The only thing I find a bit lacking about the movie is the story itself, while not terrible it feels, in the end, kind of generic (for lack of a better word), especially for a movie with that pedigree it feels weird that it's basically a retooling of Alice in Wonderland. However I think it still holds up really well, thanks in great part to the visuals but also to the actors : Stephanie Leonidas in particular sells the fuck out of both her roles and feels like a genuine, compelling onscreen presence throughout, managing the seemingly impossible task to make a sympathetic and nuanced character out of what could've easily been just a one-note riff on the "90s emo teenager" routine (the "evil Helena"). I just wish she would've gone on to feature in more movies but I don't think I've ever seen her once since her role in this...

In the end I have to say I'm really fond of the movie. It's not perfect but there's a lot to like all the same. If any of you like the old Jim Henson-produced fantasy films like Dark Crystal or Labyrinth, or just this kind of visually-oriented style of fantasy movies, I can't recommend this one enough.

edited 31st Mar '14 11:49:48 PM by Akalabth

I was wondering, would this movie be considered an animated film or a live action film or just a combination of both? I'm asking this question because there was a lot of discussions about whether or not this film should be counted as an animated film or a live action film just like Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Personally, I consider this a live action film because most of the main characters are in live action, even though the mirror world is completely in CGI, but I was wondering what do you all think about this?