The Brothers Grimm
This movie is somewhat misleading after seeing the trailers.
You really expect it to be a little hokier and a little more comedic. And while
it did have its moments and some humorous moments, this is not a comedy. It is
really hard to pigeon-hole it as a certain genre. It could be put in as a
comedy, but could also be looked at as a scare flick. And of course it has a
love story to go alongside of it. The movie wasn’t bad, but was far from good.
It has to be another one of those where you really let yourself go and don’t
think too much about it. Because if you do, you won’t enjoy it at all, but
instead will find faults left and right. I give The Brothers Grimm a 4 out of
10.
Matt Damon and Heath Ledger are our main characters in this
movie as Will and Jacob Grimm, two brothers who are in the business of making
hoaxes that only they can get rid of. The movie starts out in a village where there
is a ghost that is haunting the town. Will and Jacob have come to remedy the
problem and through spells and gadgets, they rid the town of the ghost that
lives in the barn. After the locals have left the vicinity we find out that it
is not a real ghost, but instead a very well put together facsimile. With the
help of a couple of friends, and the use of springboards and ropes, they have
made a business out of scaring people into giving them money for their help.
Because of this, they have become famous for being able to get rid of the
supernatural.
They get the chance to rid a town of a real supernatural phenomenon
and find it is harder than they think. They have the idea that it is not real
supernatural beings, but instead there are people who are in the same business
they are that are making the trees move, and things happen around them. This
really made me think about how scientists approach any type of spiritual
relationship. Instead of thinking about the possibility of there being a higher
being, they try to rationalize every instance. They think that there has to be
a scientific explanation for everything, instead of just accepting that there
is something out there that is bigger than us. So off my soapbox.
One thing that was fun was seeing the inspiration for the
stories take place on the screen and how Jacob writes down notes each time so
he will remember the story later. Here is the list of stories that I picked up
on.
- Jack and the Beanstalk
- Little Red Riding Hood
- Snow White
- Rapunzel
- Hansel and Gretel
- Gingerbread Man
- The Frog Prince
Those are just the ones that I wrote down. I am sure there
are more that I just didn’t pick up on. It was probably the best part of the
storyline really. It kind of made me think of the story as an opposite take on
the Shrek movies. We are all so familiar with the stories of the Brothers Grimm
that we forget how to innovate them and as Shrek saw the lighter side of the
fairy tales, this movie saw the darker. There were a few points where it was
humorous like the torture by snails. That was good. Who knew that someone could
be tortured just by putting snails on them. There is also the fact that every
time someone says cursed that everyone spits. It was a nice running gag for the
film. The movie also made fun of itself from time to time like when the Baldwin
monologue music kicks in and Will gives his speech and then drops out abruptly
so he can go about his business.
There was also an actress that I was previously unfamiliar
with named Lena Headey. She hadn’t crossed my radar before because she hadn’t
been in anything before this that was of note. But she did a very good job. I
was impressed with her. She is the real shining star of this movie in terms of
acting. She shows a strength that is not evident in any other actor in the
movie. Matt Damon and Heath Ledger are seasoned actors who have been in their
share of big budget films, but they just do not show it in this film. They really
come in as sub-par actors in this. They really could have gotten anyone to play
the parts at the level that they have. It was a very different role for both of
them. Matt is notoriously known for playing the kid from the wrong side of the
tracks or the rough guy, but in this one, he plays the hero, at least as much
of a hero as you can get. And Heath Ledger is playing the kind of dummy smart
guy. Between Damon’s bad accent and Ledger’s less than believable idiocy, they
are just not a believable pair. It really might have worked out better if they
had switched roles. In fact, that might have been the best idea for the movie
to have them switch roles and play the other person’s part.
The movie really had a bit of schizophrenia in that it
couldn’t decide what type of movie it wanted to be. Did it want to be a scary
movie that would make you believe in the supernatural, or did it want to be a
movie that was humorous and poked fun at the horror genre? It was really hard
to tell. There are so many points where you expect it to go one way for a solid
story, and then it will take you to the other end of the spectrum. It was just
badly directed and made for a hastily put together film. There was also the Stealth
effect of putting a name in the previews and on the posters and that person not
being in more than 10 minutes of the film. The person that this happens to in
this film is Monica Bellucci. Even though her character is instrumental to the
way the story pans out, she is only in probably 10 minutes of this 2 hour film.
Is this becoming something of a vehicle for name dropping by putting people in
the previews and advertising whether they are in the film a large amount or
not? I don’t know, and don’t agree with it. But it happens nonetheless.
Now that I’ve harped on the bad stuff, I do have one more
good thing to say about it. The effects were well done. They looked very good
and made you a part of the world very early on and kept you with it by offering
the same style of effects throughout the film. It was actually very visually
stunning and did somewhat redeem itself in that aspect. Between the moving
trees and the girl without a face, it made me really think of something along
the lines of Harry Potter and the effects that are used in it. And the effect
with the mirror and the queen at the end of the movie looked extremely well
done.
So Brothers Grimm is not for everyone, in fact, I would say
that a lot of people really wouldn’t like it. But I also think that a lot of
people who just want something different and want something to veg out to will
enjoy this film. It does get a little graphic when people get legs ripped off
and such, and I wouldn’t recommend taking children to see it. It is a PG-13 for
a reason folks, follow their guidelines. But I wouldn’t say that it is a waste
of time either as it did have redeeming points and opened my eyes to Lena
Headey and the hope that she will take good roles so she can thrive as an
actress. So I give The Brothers Grimm a 4 out of 10.