This is one of those rare films that defies categorization or comparison, because there's never been anything like it before. While the story has obvious roots in children's stories such as Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz, the look of it is wholly and refreshingly original. It's something that children will likely enjoy, but it's certainly not for children alone. It's beautiful and strange and fantastic and disturbing, often all at the same time.

McKean is an artist who embraces the collage, and loves to play with different media. His pieces, seen on the covers of many of Gaiman's works (including the entire run of Sandman, the comic book that made them both famous), can include a mixture of photography, painting, sculpture, textiles and found objects together in one image. As a director, he employs this technique in a moving form, but it's not meant to be realistic. In fact, it's just the opposite. In a time when most directors are trying to achieve verisimilitude with digital effects, to make them look as real as possible, McKean is interested in creating a world that's as far from reality as it can be.

The story takes a back seat to the strong visuals, which is a disappointment considering the involvement of Neil Gaiman, one of the pre-eminent storytellers working in fiction today. There are echoes of his previous works, and a hint of something more going on in the story than just a young woman's guilt-fueled dream, but those complexities are never fully explored. The pacing is uneven, with the especially slow scenes coming in the middle of the dream sequence. Fortunately, there is plenty of mind-bending scenery to look at while you're waiting for the plot to advance. The best of these interludes is a musical number in which creepy, life-size mannequins pop out of mechanical music boxes and sing an unsettling rendition of "Close to You" while transforming Helena into a dark, goth princess.

Like the story, the cast is there primarily to serve the visuals, which they do remarkably well. McKee looks stunning in a variety of elaborate costumes and makeups, particularly in her incarnation as the queen of darkness. Newcomer Leonidas handles the difficult job of being the lone human face in a world of CG-created backgrounds and creatures. She gives the film a strong footing while everything else is floating in the clouds.