The Brothers Grimm (PG-13)
Mike:
Scott:
Scott: Tonight we are reviewing The Brothers Grimm
, a tale about Jake and Wil Grimm, a couple of Folk(tale) Busters and an adventure out of their world. The Brothers are Old Worldly renowned for beating back ghouls and ghosts. In fact they are only playing elaborate hoaxes on the populace, until one day when the haunt isn't a hoax.
Mike: Con men are more like it.
Scott: Your thoughts Mike?
Mike: I really wanted to like it, but I didn't. I was looking forward to it and kept mentioning to you that it was coming out.
Scott: I know, you were very excited with this movie, but I wasn't getting that vibe from you while we watched it.
Mike: No. I was expecting great things, since I've been waiting for years for a new Terry Gilliam movie. Unfortunately, I was hoping for greatness like 12 Monkeys or The Fisher King, but this was more like Time Bandits or Brazil. Just weird. Several times during this movie, I literally thought, "What the hell?"
Scott: I liked Time Bandits, thank you very much.
Mike: Hated it.
Scott: I thought the sets were awesome, the peasants villages looked great, as did the peasants now that I think about it.
Mike: I have to admit that many of the effects were impressive, especially the cracked mirror effect. You'll know it when you see it.
Scott: The special effects were great and not over the top, they fit the story. Most were subtle.
Mike: I agree visually it was pretty good, but it got on my nerves that it was dark the entire film.
Scott: I have seen many darker films before though. Dark City was the darkest I have seen, this was bright enough to see detail throughout.
Mike: When I say dark, I mean oppressive more than actual blackness. I was also not very impressed with the story. At first it was cool to see some famous fables, like Little Red Riding Hood and Hansel and Gretel presented in a very frightening way, but then it all seemed to be a bit much too me.
Scott: Yes, I wanted to mention all of the fairy tales this touched on, Little Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel, Cinderella, and Snow White were the ones I picked up on, any I missed?
Mike: Rapunzel…
Scott: Right, and Ginger Bread Man was there, a small reference to Jack and the Beanstalk in the beginning.
Mike: I'm not sure who this movie is being made for. It seems like a topic that would appeal to kids, but this is way too creepy and gross for kids. I love horror movies, but this isn't quite a horror movie.
Scott: I think the movie is more for teenagers, it is PG-13. Not for kids or those with queasy stomachs, but overall not as bad as most PG-13's now-a-days.
Mike: Way too many bugs and creepy black birds for my taste.
Scott: Lots of dirty people too, really made all of the white teeth of the actors stand out.
Mike: I think I am going to refer to this as the bad accent movie. I don't know which was worse, Jonathan Pryce's French accent or Peter Stormare's Italian accent!
Scott: The accent on most characters was weak, if present at all, but that didn't distract much at all. I liked the Brothers though, Jacob Grimm played by Heath Ledger and Wil (Wilhelm) Grimm played by Matt Damon. I thought they did a good job. I like Heath, I have to admit that every time 10 Things I Hate About You comes on TV I watch it.
Mike: They were fine, but I'm not sure if they were supposed to be heroic or funny, they really didn't stand out. I think Matt Damon is one of the best actors out there, but you couldn't really tell from this movie. I think he just jumped at the chance to work with Terry Gilliam and who could blame him?
Scott: You can only do so much with a script, I think he played the part well. I believed that Damon was the snake-oil salesman in the beginning of the movie, while they were fooling the villagers with their fake hauntings and scary monster trappings.
Mike: I think the script by writer Ehren Kruger was kind of weak. His claim to fame so far has been to adapt Japanese horror films into American horror films, as he did with The Ring and The Ring 2.
Scott: I did not know he did that. If you want a bit of a comparison, this movie is a bit like Jonathan Pryce's early 80's movie, Something Wicked This Way Comes. Pryce plays Delatombe, a French General in this movie.
Mike: I have to tell you that Jonathan Pryce is one of those actors that I don't understand how he keeps getting acting jobs in good films. He drives me nuts... Just one of those actors I plain don't like.
Scott: I like him; he has a calming aura most times.
Mike: He's been in some films I love, though, like Glengarry Glen Ross and in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.
Scott: Lena Headey played Angelika, a part that the director seemed to want to do without. She seemed to play a central role, but her part disappeared at times. She has another movie coming out soon, The Cave, same day in fact.
Mike: I don't recognize Lena, but she was lovely. She seems like she could be Keira Knightly's older sister. But I agree, she disappeared for long stretches.
I normally like Peter Stormare in movies like Fargo and Constantine, but I think he was too over the top in this one.
Scott: He was great in Armageddon.
Mike: Who can forget Peter's psycho role in Fargo?
Scott: Ah yes, good call. Here's a good one though, Hidlick, played by Mackenzie Crook, appeared in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl with Jonathan Pryce. He was the pirate with the wooden eye.
Mike: Good job, trivia master. Also, more Monica Belluci. She was wasted in the film.
Scott: Who?
Mike: The princess in the mirror. She was in the second and third Matrix movies.
Scott: Anyway, what do you rate it?
Mike: I think a 2 out of 5 overall. What category would you call this film? Horror, fantasy, adventure, comedy?
Scott: Not a comedy, or a horror, I would say folk tale fantasy.
Mike: Well then, I guess a 2 out of 5 for folk tale fantasy. This one is a catch on HBO movie. I don't think it's going to do well at the box office. I predict it will not be number 1.
Scott: I give it a 3 out of 5 overall, and a 3.5 out of 5 for folk fantasy. I enjoyed the movie. And it may play well in a theatre with a bigger crowd. It may not do great in the box office, but I would not be surprised to see a sequel come out of it.
Mike: I would.
Scott: Last thoughts?
Mike: I'm not sure they are going to live happily ever after.
