I am ashamed to say that I was kind of bored and disappointed with MirrorMask. I say ashamed because I am a big fan of screenwriter Neil Gaiman. I’ve read almost everything he’s written, whether it be comic books, children’s’ books, novels, or short stories. (I say almost because he’s written a LOT of material, and I’m sure some stuff has slipped through the cracks.)
But MirrorMask is supposed to be Neil Gaiman’s and artist / designer / director Dave McKean’s new Labyrinth or Dark Crystal for the Jim Henson company. Those movies are cult classics with die hard fans, and MM will have some hardcore fans because Gaiman and McKean have hardcore fans, but sadly, it’s no new classic.

MirrorMask tells the story of Helena, an unhappy, artistic young lady and her bizarre adventure in a fantastic world. It’s basically a coming of age story where an unhappy girl realizes the importance of what she has, but in McKean’s hands, it becomes a surreal head trip; The Muppets on Crack.
Gaiman and McKean have collaborated many times, most notably on the Sandman comics, for which McKean provided all the covers. His is an edgy, kind of bizarre art style, which I definitely respect, but it’s just not my thing.
While I really like Gaiman’s writing, it’s not always…great. It’s usually interesting and very inventive, but sometimes his stories leave me kinda unimpressed.
Unfortunately, I think MirrorMask is too long, and kind of slow. Coupled with some of the way too bizarre for me visuals, it just didn’t work that well for me.
That being said, I kept up on the production of this movie, and I know how low the budget was, etc., and so I give the team a lot of credit. They did a lot with what they had to work with. I’ll always give either one of these gents’ projects a chance, and look forward to Stardust, directed by Matthew Vaughn, based on a classic Gaiman illustrated book turned novel, and further down the line, Death: The High Cost Of Living, a classic Gaiman comic mini series to be adapted for the screen and directed by Gaiman himself.
I might sound like I didn’t like this movie at all, but I did, and I think anybody who’s into weird fantasy should check it out. It’s not for the wee little ones, but most kids will like the visuals. I hope it does as well as a little film can do.