Something in the vivid imagination of British fantasist Neil Gaiman has been lost in translation to the screen in this Oz-like fantasy co-written by Gaiman and longtime collaborator/director Dave McKean (who splendidly illustrated some of Gaiman's popular Sandman graphic novels). MirrorMask revolves around a rebellious teenager named Helena (Stephanie Leonidas), who is born into a circus life she grows to despise. Shortly after she yells "I hope you die!" at her well-meaning mother (Gina McKee), the latter collapses and is rushed to the hospital, where she lingers near death from an unspecified condition. Blaming herself, Helena escapes into the fantasy world of the Dark Lands, in which only the elusive MirrorMask can revive the Queen of Light (also played by McKee) from her death-trance. MirrorMask will surely appeal to fantasy fans, but a mind-numbing excess of emotion-less digital imagery is no substitute for a good story well told, and too much of MirrorMask comes across as thin and derivative. Not recommended. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary by writer-director Dave McKean and co-writer Neal Gaiman, a 21-minute Q&A session from the San Diego Comic-Con, cast and crew interviews (8 min.), interviews with Gaiman (6 min.) and McKean (6 min.), “Beginnings: The Genesis of Mirrormask” (4 min.), a featurette on creating the “Flight of the Monkeybirds” sequence (4 min.), a three-minute “Day 16” time-lapse video segment of one entire day of production, “Giants Development: Design and Creation of the Giant Sequence” (2 min.), a poster and cover art gallery, and trailers. Bottom line: a fine extras package for a disappointing film.] (J. Shannon)[Blu-ray Review—Nov. 25, 2008—Sony, 101 min., PG, $28.95—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 2005's MirrorMask sports a great transfer and Dolby TrueHD 5.1 sound. Blu-ray extras are identical to those on the standard DVD release, including audio commentary by writer-director Dave McKean and co-writer Neil Gaiman, a 21-minute Q&A session from the San Diego Comic-Con, cast and crew interviews (8 min.), interviews with Gaiman (6 min.) and McKean (6 min.), “Beginnings: The Genesis of MirrorMask” (4 min.), a featurette on creating the “Flight of the Monkeybirds” sequence (4 min.), a three-minute “Day 16” time-lapse video segment of one entire day of production, a segment on the “Giants Development: Design and Creation of the Giant” sequence (2 min.), a poster and cover art gallery, and trailers. Bottom line: although MirrorMask received mixed reviews, it admittedly looks magical on Blu-ray.]
MirrorMask
Sony, 101 min., PG, DVD: $26.98, Jan. 10 Volume 21, Issue 1
MirrorMask
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