Reviews

I loved this movie: it has great music, special effects, great characters Oh and to those who complain that the plot line is not realistic etc: this movie is a FANTASY, and to me 'fantasy' is NOT realistic, fantasy is a fairytale; if the plot line would be always realistic i.e. always obeying rules of life etc, then it would be 'reality' instead of 'fantasy'. Fantasy is someone's imaginative/creative attempt to deal with certain emotions etc caused by painful realities of life (e.g. described in 'Raise it up') through parable, art, music etc. Just because fantasies are not always realistic in the way their storyline progresses to me that does not mean they are not beautiful, captivating, moving etc. Yes I saw that some plot moments seemed unrealistic etc, but it did not take away from my enjoyment of the movie.

I just want to say I love 'August Rush'. To me the positive aspects of the movie (the music, the acting, the idea behind the plot of music symbolizing love and bringing people together, the visual symbolism: of the moon and of musical instruments, like wind chimes etc) i.e. the good things in the movie outweigh the negative aspects (some unbelievable plot turns, but hey it's a fairytale, so I'm not complaining). I also loved how in the soundtrack there is an interesting fusion of various styles of music: classical and modern music, the soul music etc. I have recently watched my DVD of this film with my mother and she loved it too

Do not watch this movie if you hate musical fantasies, only watch it if you love them.

OK first of all i'd like to say that this movie is not for everyone. If you don't like surrealism in art (e.g. similar to Salvador Dali work) and in music, if you think stories about a teenager coming of age have been done too many times and if dreamlike fantasies are not your cup of tea, then please DON'T watch this movie, because you will not enjoy it. I personally enjoyed the movie, because I love all the things mentioned above and I liked symbolism of darkness vs. light (I find it interesting that they had spiders as a symbolism of darkness, being born from the shadows and connected to the imagery of Dark Mother/Dark Queen). I also love it, because of lessons of loyalty and friendship it contained. This movie has everything: some sadness, some humour, a hint of romance (although some will not think so, it is my personal opinion, that there was a hint of romance between Helena and Valentine). As I think i mentioned, some people really didn't like the soundtrack, but I love it and I'm listening to it right now: it is very surreal and dreamlike.

Overall a wonderful movie.

I also recommend this link of MM's analysis: www.oddpla.net/mirrormask/mm-and-labyrinth/mm-and-labyrinth.html

First I borrowed this movie from videostore And loved it so much that soon I bought the DVD so I could watch it again. That's how much i love it. I truly regret not watching it, while it was in the cinemas, it would have been great to see it on the big screen. This movie has everything: humanity, love, magic (and gorgeous cinematography), comedy, sadness, great acting. There is depth and strength to the characters in the movie. The costumes and special effects are great too. I loved the acting and how all these story lines were woven into a beautiful, delightful fable. This movie has got the heart. The music is beautiful too, it is so enchanting. It is so wonderful and bittersweet, like chocolate for the soul :) I strongly recommend it

I absolutely love this movie and I have it on DVD and gave DVDs of this movie as presents to friends :) it was my first real introduction to 'The Phantom of The Opera story and I first saw it on December 25 in 2004 and I still love 'Phantom of The Opera' story and discovered many other versions of it...I think that the acting in the movie was good, the singing was good (although Michael Crawford's version of 'Music of The Night' is my most favourite one, Gerard Butler did a good job too: his acting and singing was also good, especially 'Point of No Return'..oh and tomorrow is 13 November, which is his birthday, so happy birthday to him)...the scenery and the special effects are also excellent, in my opinion. Thanx to ALW and JS for creating this beautiful movie :) also, this movie actually made me want to see the stage show, so I hope to do so someday

'Labyrinth' has deep symbolic and psychological significance. It's about a girl going into the fantasy world to work through her issues and fears about growing up. In her room there are all the different creatures/toys etc found in the labyrinth and books from which the symbolism of the labyrinth is taken. Some themes in the movie reminded me of 'The Phantom of The Opera', because it involved a labyrinth, The Goblin King is a musician and a magician and he's in love with a young girl. This movie can be seen on several levels: first, as a children's movie, but also as a movie for grownups, because there are some universal lessons that everyone can learn from it...this movie is so magical and wonderful...the characters in the labyrinth are truly fantastical...I saw this movie in 2006, but i still love it very much and I wish i saw it when i was younger...I probably would have loved it even more, if that's possible :D

In case anyone is interested in the symbolism of Labyrinth and it's characters, here are some interesting links:

http://www.katiescarlett.co.uk/ http://www.oddpla.net/realm/ http://www.angelfire.com/mi2/lorelei/littlemagpie.html http://www.angelfire.com/mi2/lorelei/labyanalysis.html