MirrorMask: Movie Review

Can anything go wrong with a comic book style movie for which Neil Gaiman has written the screenplay? Nothing! After having been introduced to Neil Gaiman's Sandman books a few years ago, I've started a secret love affair with comic books. Slow, but definitely steady. I am presently devouring Watchmen, but that's for another day, another post.

MirrorMask is a fantasy story of a girl who works in her parents' circus troupe, but doesn't quite like it there. After a particularly bitter argument with her mother, she finds herself faced with guilt and anxiety when her mother collapses and is taken to the hospital. The rest of the movie plays out her dream in fantasy/comic mode with real and comic book characters sharing screen time. The sets are beautifully conceived and even the imagery of the opening titles leads you in with the promise of a creative ride. The movie exploits the pseudo reality of dreams where there are so many themes from our real lives replaying with such absurdity, that we find ourselves confused about where our wakefulness ends and the dream begins. In a lot of ways, MirrorMask is akin to Pan's Labyrinth. That's the quickest answer I have for "What is this movie like?".

It was a tough choice last Friday between MirrorMask & Princess Mononoke. I LOVE Princess Mononoke but have only had the VHS tape version so far. By a stroke of husbandly genius, MrM bought the DVD for my birthday last month without knowing I had been craving it. Hurrah! At least I know I have it with me to watch it any time I need a Miyazaki fix. *sigh* I love all things comics.