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Movie Reviews
| Dec. 3rd, 2025 02:04 pm Introduction As I said in my bio, I am a college student majoring and minoring and television and movies. To prepare myself for real life, I review the movies I have seen. Copying off a friend (who does book reviews), I decided to post these reviews online so others can benefit from my experiences. There are a lot of great movies in the world, but there are also a lot of bad ones.
Drop me a comment if you know of any movies that I should watch and review, and I'll see about working on that. Review it! | |
| Dec. 3rd, 2006 02:42 pm Mirrormask I thought I'd start with a movie that I just saw for the first time, but is instantly a classic in my book.
Mirrormask (2005)
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Director: Dave McKean
Writers: Neil Gaiman & Dave McKean
Starring: Jason Barry, Stephanie Leonidas, Gina McKee, and Rob Brydon</td>
Grade: A-
Synopsis (from imdb.com): Helena, a 15-year-old girl in a family of circus entertainers, often wishes she could run off and join real life. After a fight with her parents about her future plans, her mother falls quite ill and Helena is convinced that it is all her fault. On the eve of her mother's major surgery, she dreams that she is in a strange world with two opposing queens, bizarre creatures, and masked inhabitants. All is not well in this new world - the white queen has fallen ill and can only be restored by the MirrorMask, and it's up to Helena to find it. But as her adventures continue, she begins to wonder whether she's in a dream, or something far more sinister.
Review: Yes, this is a kids' movie. Yes, it almostly completely takes place in a dream world where every character wears a mask. Yes, occasionally it is difficult to understand some of the speaking, and the color is a little weird. And, yes, it is still an amazing movie.
Let's start cinematically. This movie was done partly with live actors and partly with animation, yet there is an almost seemless interaction between them. You can truly believe that the animated characters are standing right next to the actors and that they are conversing with each other--even thought it's not true. Also, the odd coloring and the slightly fuzzy edges give the impression of the audience wearing a mask. The set is complex, but the acting and dialogue tell you exactly where to focus to make it seem much simpler than it is.
That's not to say that it is entirely without problems. I found the entire scene with the stone giants to be inaudible, and the scene where she actually gets the mirrormask is more than a little confusing. However, in this case, the many positives outweigh these few negatives.
Moving on. The acting was excellent. Stephanie Leonidas (Helena) was an incredibly realistic 15-year-old, who grew up living every kid's dream--working in the circus. Jason Barry, who spent most of the movie with a mask on his face, was still able to convey exactly what he was supposed to throughout the entire thing. The only one I found to be slightly tacky and overdone was Gina McKee, particularly in her role as the Queen of Darkness. As Helena's mother, she was more realistic.
Saving the best for last, the actual story. It was excellent. It was fun, you knew who you were rooting for, you liked the characters you were supposed to like. You wanted Helena to find the mirrormask, and you wanted everything to work out. You didn't have to overthink anything. And, yet, there was an underlying message about family and growing up. It was complex in a very simple way, and not just a movie for kids.
Current Music: Close to You, Josefine Cronholm
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