I had heard good things about this film; mixed, but generally good. I finally realised last week why my gut instinct told me to stay away all those years when I tried to watch it on television. In 2006, a certain reviewer (you know who you are, Sam) posted an extremely negative review alongside all the glowing reports about how wonderful the film was. Sadly, I must conclude that Sam was right. The film is pretty much unwatchable, because of the appalling soundtrack and the miming, whistling clown. Neither of these things have any place in film. So offensive were they that I didn't make it past the opening sequence. Gina McKee's initial alter-ego was on the verge of a fainting fit when I decided I'd had enough and switched channels. I was ready to pass out from frustration. I can't rate this film because I can't honestly claim to have watched it, and I very much doubt I ever will. So thanks for the warning, Sam, and judging by the high proportion of users who found your review useful, I don't think we're alone.

Mirrormask is heavier on image than story, but the images are so moving that they overcome the lightness of the plot. Or maybe you could even say that they add enough weight and depth to the simple story that they give the viewer a chance to make a really personal connection to the film.The protagonist flips from grey real London to a metaphor, a flat world where everyone (but her) wears a mask. Creatures of all sorts flit through this world. Cats that eat pages from books, giant stone people that float, etc. These are her drawings - and thus her inner truth - come to life. Living inside one's own creation is a strange thought. She looks through windows back into the real world and sees her older self, teenage angst and roads that lead to nowhere but trouble. I was moved by the images in mirror mask, and the idea that, inside our deepest parts there are forces of good and evil fighting for control, fighting for access to the real world. In one scene, the girl is dressed by serenading robots. "Why do birds / suddenly appear / every time / you are near?" and it is not clear if they are referring to love, obsession, or perhaps even real birds, or bird heads with gorilla bodies. Who knows, in this place? They dress the girl, put on makeup, change her hair to "evil." Even in this transition there is tenderness. Upon defeat of the black forces, the universe collapses into itself. Maybe these childhood fantasies rely on the tension between good and evil. We choose too strongly, blend the colours, and are forced out of this dynamic world into one that is uniformly grey.

Going in to this film literally knowing nothing except this was produced by The Jim Henson Company, I've realized I've wasted 2 hours of my life. And I rarely say that because I've seen a looooooooooooooooooooooot of films and try to enjoy them for what they are (I went to film school). Because the film got such stellar comments on IMDb I stuck it out, but am thoroughly regretting that decision.First the plot is atrocious, because there is none. While focusing on trying to be creative, the plot of the fantasy and reality has very few connections, leaving you thinking most of the time "What was the point of that?" The two main characters seem to go from one situation to the next with no obstacles, no tension, and no building of plot. When something does come up, they simply step over it, making the viewer think "Did that really matter?" And constantly the two characters talk back and forth, explaining what is happening, because it isn't clear enough through the storytelling what is trying to be done. That is a huge sign of story problems and bad writing. Which is surprising after I found out this was written by Neil Gaiman (and I love his other work). In his other works, there is also a certain witty humor that makes the odd characters and situations enjoyable and plausible. Here however, all cleverness is missing and things just feel like they were created simply to get to the next scene.Secondly, almost everything is derivative of other fantasy work. Black and white, good and evil, we've heard it a million times before. (Except this time the evil isn't shown as being bad or evil as we must simply assume it is bad because it is "dark" - another problem) The "shadows" are directly from the Neverending Story. Psychedelic objects like flying books, and books with answers are reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland. However, with each work, something new needs to be brought to the table - unique characters, unusual situations, or something unexpected. Nothing here did that. The original movies/stories it borrowed from did so much better that one should just go and see those instead.Third, the effects and design are.... I hate to have to say it... they are thoroughly disappointing. I've grown up on Jim Hensen's creations. From the Muppet's to Fragel Rock to the Labrinth and Dark Crystal. Here however the character designs are faceless (often literally) cubic blobs of design which reveal nothing about the inner personalities of the characters. One important requirement for fantasy is amazing, unique and unusual characters that have amazing designs to them. The designs here are like what you'd find in a college 3D art class for beginners. And they don't mesh well with the visuals. It often looks like things were shot on blue screen, and then layers and layers of effects and filters were put over the images to try and make up for the extremely artificial look everything has. When I see a fantasy, I want to get sucked into the world and believe I am there. Things just looked too bland and artificial here to do so.One more!! The music is.... HORRIBLE! The whole point of music is to create an atmosphere, here it actually breaks it and takes you out of the movie. The music is experimental, atonal at times, and very non-traditional. That's fine if it works, but here it actually distracts from the scene and makes you notice it and think "Hmmm, this is odd music. It doesn't really match the scene." Lastly the directing came off as very weak. A lot of the camera angles came off with a very amateur feel. The actors never seemed to emote very well, and the whole thing just felt like an artsy-fartsy playground for the creators - not an artistic piece of fiction that takes us on a trip.The basic basic core of the film is kind of interesting, but it is shocking the film was made in the current state and not developed. It needed to be re-written with interesting events, some memorable characters, and injected with some endearing/amazing designs for characters. As it is, I recommend to avoid this film.

So close.....perhaps to a US audience the scuzzy surroundings of Brighton and the down at heel circus would seem exotic. For Brits they were all too familiar and gave a depressing start, not helped by Dora Bryan (DORA BRYAN????)in a cameo as the grandmother.... Once the "dream sequence" had got moving and the fantastic creatures began to appear it picked up pace and got me involved but the "Henson" touch of Dark Crystal and Labrynth was missing. The leading lady was excellent, others have noted her resemblance to a young Helena Bonham Carter and I'm sure we will see more of her. Rob Brydon is an excellent comedy writer and script doctor but he seemed ill at ease with the part of the ne'er do well, circus owning father and the part was under-written.Chop the first ten minutes and it might score higher.