Weblog:
I wanted so much to like Mirrormask because while growing up as a teenager, I was a fan of Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean. Unfortunately, both Elena and I found it so dull that we popped out the DVD before we even watched half of the film. I’m the type that wants to see the underdogs win, but in this case, if I had been the guy funding the production, I probably would’ve pulled the plug on the whole thing had I known how it would turn out. A distinct feeling I had while watching was that the whole film should’ve been a graphic novel instead. I used to believe that a truly talented creative mind should be able to cross mediums and genres easily, because creativity at its core works on similar principles. I no longer feel that way, and I think Mirrormask was the nail that sealed the coffin. Both Gaiman and McKean are successful and respected in the creative circle–two people that have more than proven they have both the talent and the wisdom to lead that talent to form financial success and critical acclaim. But then how do you explain Mirrormask?
Gaiman and McKean are not strangers to the medium of film, as they have both dabbled in it at different times in their creative careers, yet what they ended up with was worse than some of the student films being made around the world every year. The pacing, the dialogues, and in fact the entire premise–nothing worked for me. I probably wouldn’t sit through it again, and I doubt I’ll ever finish the second half of the film. I still don’t understand how Gaiman could write a fantasy film that dull, especially when he’s considered a modern day master of fantasy storytelling. The plot wandered aimlessly, and what should’ve had me in awe of its imagination and wonder, instead made me want to pop in a different film into my DVD player altogether. At no point did I feel any ounce of emotion from what’s going on in the film, and I just didn’t care what happened next–despite the continued bombardment of clever visual designs that McKean piled on. Much of the imagery in the film were so self-indulgent, to the point where it seemed like they felt they had something to prove. On the other hand, some of the principle photography were so lackluster that you wonder if it’s really directed by the talented McKean, who’s one of the most talented visual artists of his generation. What it looked like was misplaced priorities–they should’ve made sure their principle photography kicked ass before they went buck-wild with the special effects. A film in its bare-bones state has to be as solid as possible before one starts to worry about all the extra stuff. The lighting in some of the scenes were so bad that I wonder if they had spent all the money on special effects and didn’t have any left to rent decent lights and accesories (which isn’t possible because principle photography happens before visual effects). I understand that they were working with a very low budget, but the problems displayed in the principle photography weren’t ones borne of budget problems. Simply inexcusable for a director who’s also an accomplished photographer.
Another thing that bugged me about Mirrormask was the fact the main character Helena, a young teenager, was depicted drawing the kind of drawings that only a mature master visual artist like McKean would be able to pull off (McKean obviously drew/painted/photographed everthing that appreared in the film). Although what she drew weren’t the kind of stuff most people associate with superior artistic skill (the average person believes that realism is a sign of superior talent/skill), but to anyone who knows anything about art, those drawings contained an obvious amount of experience and knowledge–something that McKean didn’t bother to hide. I know for a fact that a good artist can “fake” inexperience if they wanted to, but it looked like either McKean didn’t even think about it, or he felt it wasn’t a concern at all, as the film’s supposed to be a wild fantasy anyway. Maybe my priorities are different, but it is a pet peeve of mine. Depicting a talented kid is one thing, but it’s just unrealistic to see any teenager on this planet capable of drawing skill like that–she’d be getting full scholarships from every single art school around the world and wouldn’t need to be in the damn circus in the first place. James Cameron’s got them beat hands down when it comes to that detail, because although he’s a pretty good artist, he’s nowhere near as good as McKean, so it wasn’t a problem that he personally drew all the drawings that were used in Titanic as Jack’s drawings. It felt about right that Jack’s drawings looked that way. In fact, they probably should’ve looked even better, as for a guy that age who’s traveled around drawing whores everywhere, he should be a kickass portrait/figure artist–which Jack wasn’t by the looks of his drawings. This is not a dig on James Cameron or anything–he’s one of my favorite filmmakers and I think the man’s just brilliant. Maybe McKean should’ve done Jack’s drawings, and Cameron should’ve done Helena’s drawings.
As much as my ranting about Mirrormask sounds like some form of diatribe against Gaiman and McKean, it just couldn’t be further from the truth. I really wanted to see them make a film that was both critically acclaimed and financially successful, and it makes me sad that even the critics found the film completely dull and irrelevant (the reviews were split exactly 50/50).
…
Now, on to something that’ll turn my frown upside down–Dreamfall, the sequel to the The Longest Journey, one of my favorite video games of all time, is almost here. I regularly read Ragnar Tornquist’s blog (creator/writer/designer/director of The Longest Journey), and although he’s pretty tight-lipped about Dreamfall in general, he’s given away enough enticing details to hold fans off until the game goes gold. Based on what I’ve seen so far, it looks like a real winner.
