Review of MirrorMask (2005) by Sean H — 08 Aug 2008

THERE'S a lot of talent behind Mirrormask. Dave McKean, who "designed and directed" the film, is one of Britain's most talented comic book artists and record sleeve designers. His wildly inventive imagery is unforgettable. For this, his feature film debut, he's joined forces with the acclaimed writer Neil Gaiman (whose graphic novels he's illustrated).

Telling the adventures of a girl called Helena (Stephanie Leonidas) in a shadow dreamscape world inhabited by Gina McKee and Rob Brydon (playing Stephanie's parents and their fantasy counterparts), alongside the voices of Stephen Fry and Lenny Henry, it's certainly amazing to look at. Some of the creations, like the music box dolls or the oddly disturbing stone giants who simply hang in the air, are amazing, although perhaps too scary for younger children.

But the story - book-ended by two astonishingly amateurish "real world" sequences in a circus - is a mess. Our heroine starts her journey by wishing her mother dead, which hardly endears her to the audience. Characterisation is paper-thin (many of the characters wear masks, which hardly helps) and, with scene after scene passing without emotion or dramatic conflict, all that skill and beauty quickly becomes wearing and meaningless. Iain Ballamy's jazz score merely irritates.

The performers - especially Leonidas, whose sparky acting would have been very effective if she'd had a real character to play - do their best, but most of them look as confused as I felt.