The Brothers Grimm
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Movie Reviews of The Brothers Grimm
Movie Review: Brother's Grimm
Summary: 5 Stars
Great fantasy/adventure movie. Matt Damon and Heath Ledger are great and the movie was exciting and fun.Movie Review: The Brothers Grimm
Summary: 5 Stars
I collected all Heath Ledger's movies after his unexpected and untimely death, this one was pretty good!Movie Review: Great movie fast delivery
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a great movie for the whole family. Product delivery was fast and efficient.Movie Review: An Eye Opening Fairytale Ready to Awaken the Inner Child...
Summary: 4 Stars
The brilliance of Terry Gilliam's work is often misunderstood, misinterpreted, and completely misses the audience, if the viewer does not allow himself or herself to submerge into the story with an open mind. However, the notion of an open mind has a very vague connotation, which is also the intention of Gilliam. After examination of Gilliam's previous work it is evident that his visual manifestations have a bizarre and even unearthly tone to them. It is with innovating imagination that Gilliam applies his artistry to the silver screen, as his creations are often fantastic in nature with a strong touch of cognitive dissonance. Within the conflicting concepts, Gilliam allows the viewer to cerebrally struggle with one or multiple ideas, which presents some of his ingenious cinematic dexterity. On occasion, his visions can feel a little tangled, and leave the viewer slightly disoriented.
In many aspects, Gilliam is a pioneering artist that requires artistic freedom when he plunges into his passion. It also means that when his creation is finished it does not always allow the audience to grasp his intentions, as his thoughts on the screen do not easily transfer to the mind of the audience. Some of difficulty with Gilliam's films might rest in the audience's inability to surrender themselves to the story.
The Brothers Grimm is one of these stories that might easily vanish among the many Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter's (J.K. Rowling wanted Gilliam to direct her Harry Potter books), and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. These epic fantasy films have serious undertones and strong moral messages while applying fascinating might and magic. Gilliam uses a different approach, as he always breaks away from the well-traveled road. In this process, Gilliam attempts to reach an audience that would allow themselves to unlock their tightly secured maturation and let out this inner child.
Unfortunately, it is not as easy as Gilliam anticipated to let out the child within each adult, as many have deem the story self-indulgent and an immature journey of irresponsibility. Nonetheless, in Gilliam's free adaptation of the Brothers Grimm remains true to the gruesome violence in the Grimm fairy tales. Thus, those that state that the story is too violent for children should consider the film in its historical context, as parents, grandparents and other relatives scared the bejesus out of their children to foster certain behaviors centuries ago.
One of the traditional characteristics in Gilliam's films is humor, dry and witty with occasional slapstick to soften up the audience. It might be relic from his days with the Monty Python, yet he is also very well aware of the importance of human laughter and its ability to heal people in pain. Sometimes I get the feeling that Gilliam feels sorry for those who do not laugh, as he always incorporates some element of humor in his cinematic creations. Thus, the audience should also be aware of the amusing absurdity in the Brothers Grimm, as the film frequently applies much of this healthy cerebral exercise.
The story itself in the Brothers Grimm follows the two Grimm brothers Jacob (Heath Ledger) and Wilhelm (Matt Damon), as they make a living exploiting people's superstition. Eventually, the law catches up with them, as the Italian torture master Cavaldi (Peter Stormare) arrests them by order of the French General Delatombe (Jonathan Pryce). However, a second chance is given to the Grimm's as they are told to put a stop on the mysterious events in the forest of Marbaden. If they succeed, Delatombe will spare their lives.
Once Jacob and Wilhelm arrive to the German village of Marbaden with their eager to kill supervisor Cavaldi, they begin to witness the strange events of the small village. With the help of the local scout and ranger Angelika (Lena Headey) they enter the woods and to their bewilderment they learn that there indeed exists strange and dangerous creatures heard from fairy tales. Squeezed between two sides - the imaginary and the real - they soon learn that both sides want them dead. It is an intriguing symbolical struggle, as imagination faces off with rationalization. The struggle could also offer an analogy to modern times, as wars do not show sympathy to the people caught in between the fighting parts.
Besides the fairy tale, the film presents a myriad of concepts both psychological and social in nature. For example, the individual construction of beliefs, morals, and values emerge within the story through a childhood trauma experienced by both Jacob and Wilhelm concerning magical beans. Expansionism and power then go under scrutiny through the character Delatombe and the magical creature in the woods. Together these ideas offer a criticism of the contemporary society, as it is too rigid and not always understanding of the differences within the many parts of the world. The intolerance often fueled by greed for power is the film eternal beauty.
The Brothers Grimm is brilliant in several ways, but the profiteering machine of the film industry has blocked its genius in the contrasting light of many other films. Thus, in comparison with other films, which are a natural act, the true gem within the film dissolves into a trite fantasy adventure. However, if the viewer allows himself or herself to transcend beyond the ordinary into a world of individuality a sparkling fantasy tale that freely adapts the Grimm's fairytale world emerges. Lastly, Gilliam's intentions are admirable, but to expect most people to free themselves from their previous experience is also a little too much.
Movie Review: A 4-Star Movie...A 2 Star Script
Summary: 4 Stars
Some directors work best with their own material. They can use another persons' source material, like a classic novel or a newspaper article. But at the end of the process a film must bear the mark of the director. He must have many different credits. This is why many of the directors that most consider visionary best works come when they write, produce, and direct. This is the undeniable flaw of Terry Gilliam's latest film THE BROTHERS GRIM, it's got all the trademarks of Gilliam's brilliant attention to detail, it's whimsical, and full of life and color, and yet the screenplay is full of ideas that are not fully realized because they are so small in scope and Gilliam is too large in vision
THE BROTHERS GRIM follows Wilhelm and Jacob (Matt Damon and Heath Ledger), the very namesakes of the title, two con-artists traveling around French controlled Germany in 1812. They have the whole countryside believing that they have killed trolls and battled all matter of evil thing, and it's not until they stumble into some real evil that the story gets going. Somebody has kidnaped 11 little girls and it's up to the Brothers Grimm to discover who's behind the nefarious plot. They are aided by Angelika (Lena Headly), a young woman who's two sisters were the first ones taken.
To try to sum up the story any more would just confuse you. It's a story that is far richer in texture, Gilliam and screenwriter Ehren Kruger has bitten of a little more than they can chew. But they give it a shot and for the most part succeed. Some of the extraneous subplots involving the French Army are silly and stop the film cold. I could have also done without Peter Stormare's over the top acting, which at times was more grating than silly. I especially hated his thick French accent that render much of what he says unintelligible.
GRIMM should be praised because what does work in the film works so well. I loved all the scenes in the tower. I loved every moment that the Brother's Grimm are in the forest. I love how Gilliam filled the forest with life. I loved the colors, and the drab textures and how they meshed together. I loved that the film made me laugh. It's so hard to find a film with such genuine and unforced laughs in it. I also believe the last twenty minutes of the film were breathtaking. Monica Bellucci was divine in a role that could have been played by any pretty little thing. In her hands and with Gilliam's attention to detail her final moments are as awe-inspiring as the dancing scene in THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN.
As a matter of fact many will probably find many comparisons to the unfairly maligned film Gilliam made in 1989. Both films are rich in detail and try to handle too much at once, and yet both films are passionate and it's in their passion that the true beauty and wonder of our imaginations take hold. THE BROTHERS GRIM may have trouble finding a mainstream audience to embrace it. This is a film that will probably bore the masses and yet will find a cult audience that will eat it up. Like pervious classics in the fantasy genre like LEGEND or EXCALIBUR, GRIM is a film that will take DVD and cable to find its audience.
I mast say the biggest disappointment is the ripped from INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM ending that felt tacked on and not needed. This film had a natural and far more interesting final shot before the film ends that I would have preferred but alas, I was not in the cutting room (but maybe I should have been).
At the end of the day what doesn't work is the story which while layered takes very few risks. You can see what Gilliam is doing on the screen and how hard he's trying to overcome the weakness in the script and yet Kruger's script is far too small for Gilliam vision. I would have like to have seen what Gilliam would have done if he'd tackled the script as well. I see his personal touches on the screen. I just wanted a more personal touch on the story.
All in all the BROTHERS GRIMM is satisfying. It's a good movie that will stand the test of time. There is an audience of people that will be receptive to it, even if the masses won't. It's a great concept film with a lackluster script.