The Brothers Grimm - movie review

Once upon a time my mother chose the movies that my brother and I got to enjoy. Since that time, my mother has occassionally questioned her movie-selection abilities in my youth ("maybe Raiders was a little scary for a 10-year-old") but I can only thank her for her sound judgement. I grew up with a healthy dose of creative film-making placed before me. It was, afterall, a time when adventurous story-telling and spectacular visuals were in their prime. It was the age of early Spielberg and Lucas adventure yarns (Star Wars, Indiana Jones). It was the era of Jim Henson (Muppets, Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal). And, it was when I was introduced to Terry Gilliam through a film called Time Bandits.

Gilliam is most noted for his work with Monty Python. Monty Python films are the celluloid equivalent of music groups like Meatloaf, Cream, and Steve Miller. I became aware of the them in highschool and they have held a nostalgia-fueled entertainment quality ever since. Luckily, MP is actually REALLY funny in a random and absurd way that is now only found in animated TV shows like Futurama and Family Guy. The fact that Gilliam was a Monty Python writer should give you some indication as to where his narrative direction lies. However, his humour is only part of the package as his interest in fairy-tale stories is most relevant to his recent endeavour - The Brothers Grimm - and brings us back to the aforementioned Bandits.

Time Bandits was released in 1981 and told the tale of a young boy who is swept away into a fight against "pure evil". The film weaves together myth (Theseus' battle with the Minotaur) and history (the Titanic's demise) as the boy travels through space and time. The film is also a sly comment on the necessity of wonderment and the treachery of modern convenience. In 1988, Gilliam brought us the bizarre Adventures of Baron Munchuasen and is primarily remembered for giving the world Uma Thurman (as Venus) but was based on the tales of a European folk hero. The Brothers Grimm falls somewhere between these two. It will never hold up as a classic like Bandits due to poor construction; but it surpasses Baron in wit and concept.

The film begins with a snapshot of the young Grimms and through the introduction of some "magic beans" lets us know who will be the believer and who will be the cynic. Jump 15 years to the future and the older Grimms - smooth-talking Will (Matt Damon) and quiet scholar Jacob (Heath Ledger) - are working the confidence game around French-occupied Germany. But it's when the Grimms are forced to solve the mystery of Marbeden's vanishing daughters that things really get interesting.

The film's early scenes feel like over-worked contrivances. However, they are carried by the pairing of Damon and Ledger who inject the right mix of winking-eye and character sincerity to keep you intrigued. The laboured set-up begins to pay-off once the story truly locates to the enchanted forest. The script was written by Ehren Kruger and he offers the same skill for tickling the audience's knowledge of the source material here as he did in Scream 3. Much of the film revolves around the incorporation of fairy-tale images, names, and motives. Kruger does a passable job of interweaving the stories into a single quest from which the Grimm's could have later distilled independent tales. In much the same way that last year's Van Helsing connected the big three horror villians, TBG brings elements of Little Red Riding Hood, Rumplestitlskin, Rapunzel, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, The Frog Prince, The Gingerbread Man, Hansel & Gretel and more into the show. And, like Helsing, you will either enjoy the experience or cry foul at its liberties. I chose to enjoy it.

Much of the joy is sustained by the visuals. Once again, Gilliam has used his penchant for the fantastic to strong effect in painting a children's book world. His use of colour and slow motion are particularly helpful. There is an old world charm that is presented that reminds you of the illustrations you used to see before Disney co-opted all the fairy tale characters. As well, Gilliam's dark side is firmly in place and the look is solidly designed with adults in mind. His twist on the typical female message of beauty beats all is striking. In this version, the quest of life-long beauty is exposed as a parlour trick that must be shattered - literally. The film's mixture of decadent details and menacing motives is a wonderful presentation of our beloved stories' genesis - especially since we all know that fairy tales were pretty nasty in their early days.

Where The Brothers Grimm fails is in the final execution. Flow is hampered by hatchet editing that appears to have deleted entire transition scenes. The use of digital effects is inconsistent and almost laughable at times. Because of these things the plot thickens but does not pleasantly congele. Instead it wiggles around and tries to hide some of its flaws with obvious sprinkles. A further disappointment is Peter Stormare, as Cavalli, who chews so much scenery it is surprising his scenes survive. Although Stormare is often the entertaining oddity in a film he goes too far here when Gilliam should have reined him in.

By the end, the happily ever after of TBG is not as sweet as it could have been. Although Gilliam has brought his signature to the piece it is shakily presented. Thus, this tale will never be beloved, but it reminds you of an age when creativity and colour had not withered from movie-making. It attempts to re-assert the power of wonder over the lure of the dollar and, if anything, may push some of us back to the library.