Early 19th century: brothers Will (Matt Damon) and Jacob (Heath Ledger) Grimm travel around Germany conning villagers and pretending to defeat imaginary monsters, until they are forced to investigate a series of mysterious disappearances. At first they believe it's the work of a fellow impostor, but this time real magic is involved. With the help of huntress Angelika (Lena Headey) and mercenary Cavaldi (Peter Stormare), the brothers Grimm face an evil sorceress (Monica Bellucci) haunting the local forest.
I really like the cast and the premise of the fake Ghostbusters clashing against a true supernatural threat. Sadly, the result is a disappointment.
What's wrong with the movie?
First, pacing is mortally off. It feels like a collection of choppily assembled vignettes ("Look, Little Red Riding Hood! Here come Hansel and Gretel!"). Scenes happen randomly and are not given enough time to breath; characters' interactions are perfunctory. For example, at one point we are told both brothers have feelings for Angelika, but nowhere in previous scenes this had been given the proper setup.
Structure is a mess: we have three scenes with our heroes captured by the French, three scenes with them bumbling around the magic tower, etc. It's clunky, repetitive and unfocused - as if the screenwriters had this droll high-concept fantasy premise, wrote a first unpolished draft and called it a day.
Also, tone. This is part fairy tale with Gothic elements, part slapstick comedy (Stormare's mercenary would feel at home in a Monty Python sketch). The more lighthearted material isn't particularly funny and the transition to serious scenes feels jarring. It made me re-evaluate Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow, which handled a similar cocktail between genres much more deftly.
Strangely for a Terry Gilliam movie, The Brothers Grimm lacks personality.
5/10
I really like the cast and the premise of the fake Ghostbusters clashing against a true supernatural threat. Sadly, the result is a disappointment.
What's wrong with the movie?
First, pacing is mortally off. It feels like a collection of choppily assembled vignettes ("Look, Little Red Riding Hood! Here come Hansel and Gretel!"). Scenes happen randomly and are not given enough time to breath; characters' interactions are perfunctory. For example, at one point we are told both brothers have feelings for Angelika, but nowhere in previous scenes this had been given the proper setup.
Structure is a mess: we have three scenes with our heroes captured by the French, three scenes with them bumbling around the magic tower, etc. It's clunky, repetitive and unfocused - as if the screenwriters had this droll high-concept fantasy premise, wrote a first unpolished draft and called it a day.
Also, tone. This is part fairy tale with Gothic elements, part slapstick comedy (Stormare's mercenary would feel at home in a Monty Python sketch). The more lighthearted material isn't particularly funny and the transition to serious scenes feels jarring. It made me re-evaluate Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow, which handled a similar cocktail between genres much more deftly.
Strangely for a Terry Gilliam movie, The Brothers Grimm lacks personality.
5/10