|
What . . . you need me to tell you WHY you should go see Mirrormask? How about because it is quite simply the best movie I've seen all year? How about because it's the trippiest movie I've ever seen? How about if I toss out these three names: Neil Gaiman, Dave McKean, and Jim Henson? If that's not enough to get you geeking out, then I really don't know what you're doing on this site in the first place.
If, like me, you grew up watching Labyrinth, you will love this movie. There are many similarities - a girl trapped in an unusual world which she has knowledge of, on a quest to save a loved one. Labyrinth, however, made much more sense than Mirrormask. The things that happen in this movie may or may not be a dream, and as such they have an extremely surreal dream-like quality about them. Unusual creatures, strange buildings, flying books, and people wearing the most fantastic masks you could imagine.
Where this movie trumps Labyrinth is in the dialog. There was so much great, witty banter in Mirrormask! I laughed aloud many times, and was smiling throughout much of the movie. The secondary character Valentine has so many amusing lines, sometimes sarcastic, sometimes goofy, always charming. In fact, I'd say that he probably made the movie for me. Without his charisma, the movie still would have been visibly spectacular, with an interesting story, but I'm not sure that the character of Helena could have carried it entirely on her own. She needed a sidekick, a foil, someone familiar with the strange world she's suddenly in.
Mirrormask is rated PG, and contains nothing outright objectionable. I don't recall any cursing at all, not even mild expletives. However, some younger and/or more easily spooked children may be frightened by some of the images on display here. Children (or even adults) afraid of spiders or clowns may wish to avoid this movie.
Pleasantly, even though the movie is family-appropriate, it's not dumbed down to appeal to children. I think that Mirrormask will mainly appeal to adults and teenagers. It may be a bit too weird to appeal to most kids - many of Labyrinth's strange denizens had a cuddly Muppet look to them, and numerous musical numbers helped to dispel the creepy vibe. There is only one real musical number in Mirrormask, and it borders on disturbing. The only other song with vocals plays over the end credits.
Speaking of the end credits, don't be like everyone else in the theater with me yesterday - stay and watch them. While not as visually stunning as the start credits, they are pretty nicely done, clearly designed by McKean. Plus the music playing over them is pretty nice, nice enough that we're hoping to get a hold of the soundtrack.
Yes, Mirrormask was good enough that we want both the soundtrack AND the DVD. To put that into perspective, the only DVDs that we own are the extended versions of the Lord of the Rings movies. There are a few other movies that we'd want to watch again and again, but this is definitely a film to watch again, and to force our friends to watch in case they miss it in the theaters.
Quite unfortunately, it will be pretty easy to miss Mirrormask on the big screen. We intended to see it with my in-laws while we visited them in NY. It was only playing in one theater there, and it only stayed there for a week or two - we missed our window of opportunity. Thankfully, it hit theaters here the day we got home from vacation. Of course, when I say theater, I mean 4 showings a day at a small, old theater with crappy seats. Meanwhile, Doom is playing on multiple screens at 5 theaters in the Tucson area.
When I saw this movie, there were only about half a dozen other people in the theater - granted, it was 4:30 on a Tuesday, not exactly prime movie-going hours, but still sad since it's the only screen it's playing on and still the first week that it's playing. I don't know how popular it's going to be in theaters - it's a pretty weird film and may turn some people off. I predict that it will end up being something of a cult hit, however, with weird fantasy buffs by myself.
If you get the chance, see this movie on the big screen. If you miss your chance, you MUST see it on DVD.
|