Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Ah, a quirky story about a 15-year-old girl, Helena who falls into a dream world she created through her drawings and her quest of finding the MirrorMask to save the queen of the White City before the City of Light is consumed by the shadows from the Land of Shadows. The story is told in a dream-likeness where anything that can happen in dreams will happen. This unconventional book is very much like Gaiman and McKean's previous works of mix media, indulging in stills from the movie, McKean's signature penciled angular drawings and scattered text done in a readable manner. The background colour of the pages are either white or black, depicting the Light or Dark realms that Helena is in at that moment. I love that subtle effect. It's a nice story - it's like reading about someone's dream and trying to make some sense out of it. It's a fun book, a light read and something to amuse yourself when you're bored.

Then I tried watching the movie version which was directed by Dave McKean himself. The visuals are stunning but like most British films, it was a tad boring for a fantasy-themed movie. I fell asleep three-quarters into the movie. There was one part I liked though where the robots hypnotised Helena into thinking she is the princess of the Land of Shadows while singing Carpenters' Close to You in a chorus-y sort of voice.

If you're really curious about MirrorMask, I would recommend reading the book instead of watching the movie because it's just better that way.

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