Neil Gaiman’s Mirrormask is just the sort of mixed bag I expected. While parts are mesmerizing and the performance of Stephanie Leonidas is a joy in itself, the plot fails to make room for credibility when it’s desperately needed. The holes left behind from this weak story cause the film to masquerade as art while carefully avoiding admission to what it really is – a product of sloppy writing. Gaiman is a talented scribe, but with Mirrormask, he’s dangerously close to believing his own hype. Judging fro... the work, it’s as if he’s looking back at his own accomplishments and thinking his minions of fans will like whatever he first puts down on paper; and for the most part, I think his hunch will prove correct. But that doesn’t mean it’s good just because his followers refuse to see the fault. It’s not that his words and sentences aren’t impressive. They are. No one can fault the man’s abilities with the mechanics of the language, but on issues of plotting, it’s as though he came up with three-quarters of a good story and refused to develop it to completion. Of course, the excuse for such disjointedness is that he’s attempting to create a dreamlike quality with the work. He does succeed, but he gives up too much ground when it comes to credibility.

Still, Mirrormask is not a bad film. The imagination, which goes into every aspect of the feature, is wild and vividly rendered. The effects are spectacular and proof an eye candy piece can be made for less than $5 million. The one-eyeball spiders, the black mass of destruction, the vicious four-legged riddle-loving creatures with human faces – all these characters are rendered beautifully, and do a great job of appealing to older children on the cusp of junior high or high school. And I admire the way Gaiman doesn’t underestimate his audience’s intelligence. At its core, the film has a positive and useful message for kids, and it’s able to relate it without talking down to them. Last but not least, Leonidas will hypnotize you with her grace and beauty. She emits a sexuality that will disturb older viewers until they discover she’s really in her early twenties. But that speaks even more of her talent. Here she is, playing a convincing adolescent, while still oozing sensuality. She’s a talented young actress, who will leave you with some bizarre feelings. To borrow a line from Steve Carrell’s sexually charged boss in The 40-Year-Old Virgin, she will haunt your dreams.