 THE BROTHERS GRIMMMPAA Rating:
 for violence, frightening sequences and brief suggestive materialReviewed by: Chris Monroe Offensive
Moviemaking Quality:
Primary Audience:
Teens, Adults
Genre:
Fantasy, Thriller, Comedy
Length:
1 hr. 58 min.
Year of Release:
2005
      Eliminating Evil Since 1812 / No curse we can’t reverse. No spell we can’t break. No demon we can’t exterminate. Producer’s Synopsis: “Brothers Jake and Will Grimm, renowned collectors of folklore, have made a career out of traveling from village to village pretending to rid them of “enchanted” creatures. Their bluff is called, however, when they are forced by Napoleon’s French government to investigate a haunted forest where girls have been disappearing mysteriously. What they discover leads to a series of adventures involving an actual evil (and immortal) sorceress that mirrors that of mythology and the fables that the Brothers Grimm would eventually become famous for.” Sowing your time at a showing of Terry Gilliam’s newly fandangled fantasy film will cause you to reap some grim images, but will also bear some enjoyable and fun fruit as well. Ultimately, “The Brothers Grimm” is fashioned with a familiar fairy-tale formula, replete with various depictions of evil, but one that results in a redemptive, happy ending. Reminiscent of Stephen Sondheim’s Broadway musical “Into the Woods” this adventure includes a mish-mash of various children’s fairy tales and begins in the same “once upon a time” manner. This “Grimm” tale starts off in French occupied Germany in 1796 with two young boys who are trying to save their sick mother, but one of them exchanges all they have for magic beans. Eighteen years later, these two brothers, Jake (Heath Ledger) and Will (Matt Damon) work as con-artists pretending to exorcize witches, but find themselves caught up in a bigger mission to help save missing children from the evil Queen Mirror (Monica Bellucci). As in any fairy tale, there is the depiction of good, as well as evil. This movie is rated PG-13 and does take some liberty to show some dark, gruesome images. Much of the idea is to have the same scary feel that you would have while reading a fairy tale, but also pushes past that at various moments. For example, there is one image of two heads that have been decapitated, one man who has been cut in half and a silhouette of a small boy being swallowed by a horse. On a more positive note, there is a wealth of humor involved throughout the story. This is the best piece I have ever seen Ledger perform in, and he does well as the quirky, insecure brother. Both he and Damon bungle around enough and give you something to laugh at. Even better are the performances by Peter Stormare and long time Gilliam cohort, Jonathan Pryce. They are sharp and highly entertaining. There were, of course, Monty Python style incidents, with one in particular where everyone does a spit bit. Most of the language is very decent throughout, save an instance or two where Christ’s name is used in vain. There is also no nudity, but one scene takes place in a tavern where Jake and Will are becoming fairly intoxicated. This sequence also includes Will taking two girls up to the bedroom with him, and later shows him waking up in bed with the two of them. They are all fully clothed, but the implication is clear. Terry Gilliam has certainly kept in sync with his style of filmmaking with “The Brothers Grimm”. The CGI is a little distracting, but some of the other choices, such as the cartoonish opening credits, are very effective. It has taken a while for this movie to finally be released, but one thing I found out was that the director did not want to compromise the film. Before its release, I bumped into Matt Damon who told me Terry spent a long time in the editing room working with the studio—but that he finally got his cut. It’s refreshing to see that this kind of commitment still exists. Violence: Heavy / Profanity: Moderate / Sex/nudity: Mild Year of Release—2005 / USA release: August 26, 2005 (wide).  Negative - My husband and I had been looking forward to seeing this picture, which promised amazing special effects and effective, atmospheric sets combined with allusions to famous fairytales. On a positive note, the costumes were very good: the wicked queen’s elaborate golden “escoffin” headdress and gown were very well done, even if the dress (accurately) was very low-cut. The sets were creepy and the special effects were good. The sound (at least in our Dolby theater) was not so great; some of the French officers' lines were almost masked by background noise. The allusions to fairy tales (Rapunzel, Gingerbread Boy, Sleeping Beauty, Red Riding Hood, etc.) were well done. Neutral - This movie had a lot of potential, but I never really felt it reached it. It was almost as if the director was so excited about the concept that he couldn’t wait to produce a quality movie to put on the big screen. It wasn’t as entertaining as the previews made it out to be. Rent it, don’t waste your money to see it in the theaters. This was definitely a hit-and-miss for the director. Negative - I felt sick watching it! It was just one gross scene after the next. I finally walked out an hour into it. I wished I had walked out much sooner. I had a hard time getting some of the images out of my mind. I am not fan of the horror genre and did not think this was in that category. I should have checked it out before going to see this with some friends about 10 years younger who were also very disappointed. One of them commented that it was demented. This type of movie may be pretty typical for what some young people are growing up seeing, but that is really very sad. I just kept closing my eyes and wondering if it would get better, but the yucky scenes just came one after the other. I did get a free ticket after I told the manager how I felt about the movie… Positive - …pretty much pure fun… there isn’t a lot of bad language or dirty comments or actions… there is a little bit of violence… gore etc. but I really enjoyed the whole movie—IT WAS REALLY FUNNY! Comments from young people
Neutral - This movie was boring, seemed like it lasted forever, and was just weird. Don’t let little kids watch this because there’s a few weird scenes in it that might freak them out. Example: There was this one scene where a kid’s face gets this glob on it and the face disappears. The kid makes gaggling sounds, turns into the gingerbread man, and jumps in a well of water while the dad stands there terrified. It’s just a weird movie with no real plot. Although they don’t really cuss, and it’s not a “bad” movie, it’s boring, I wouldn’t waste any money on it… Negative - I went with a friend to see this movie and neither one of us really knew what it was going to be about so we didn’t have any expectations. Two or three times during the movie we looked at each other and asked 'what are we watching?' parts that were supposed to be funny weren’t and parts that were serious… at least I think they were supposed to be serious… I was in hysterics. Neutral - I had my doubts about this movie, but I enjoyed it. Yes, it had its plot holes, but overall a good film with likeable characters. Anyone 14 or older should be able to watch this movie, but younger kids may have nightmares. Positive - “The Brothers Grimm” was both a good and bad film. It was bad, because it has a lot of dark, chilling, creepy images; the special affects are definitely not the best; there’s a scene or two of stuff that goes against the Bible; and a slightly dragging plot. Neutral - …I’ll give some credit to the people who made this movie, it was pretty cool how they put a lot of fairy-tales together into one whole movie. But I’m sorry, it was not that entertaining, I thought that movie would never end. Negative - I will note here that my review contains graphic detail and should not be read if you don’t like spoilers or are extremely squeamish… Negative - This is one of the more piontless movies I have seen. The plot is hard to follow and some of my favorite fairy-tales have been twisted into some thing I would rather have not seen. This movie is very dark and not for children at all. To say the least, I regret going to see it. What a waste of a Saturday night! Positive - …very interesting with a taste of adventure that people from 15 and up will love. I was scared at some parts. It was better then average. Though it is not a movie I would watch over and over again mind you, it was only a spure of the moment thing. Movie Critics
…only grim and unsettling… It tries to be funny, but then likable characters are killed gruesomely, followed by more 'humor.'…not for children in any way, shape or form, as it is only violent, gory, scary, dark… …flawed yet enthralling, visually spectacular fairy-tale fantasia… …It’s a great idea done badly… over-the-top …gets the drama right but overplays much of the humor. It’s as if lots of cool pictures were shot, but the film fell apart in the editing room… …Terry Gilliam’s fractured fairy tale has some amazing moments but a muddled plot… …a coffee-table book of a movie: all images, no story… gorgeous but empty… …a work of limitless invention, but it is invention without pattern, chasing itself around the screen without finding a plot… …Gilliam’s latest fiasco… Once upon a time, “The Brothers Grimm” happened—unfortunately. |
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