Image Courtesy of Amazon.com
Director:
Terry Gilliam
Cast:
Matt Damon……….Wilhelm Grimm
Heath Ledger……….Jacob Grimm
The Movie
When a film is either really good or really bad, it’s really easy to write about it as the superlatives flow out. For every stinker like Beauty Shop or every great movie like Cinderella Man, it’s easy to find the words to describe them. So when a movie like The Brothers Grimm comes out, it’s hard to describe for one reason: it’s so pedestrian and average that it never gets beyond the scope of being mediocre to really be any sort of movie, much less a good or a bad one.
The Brothers Grimm features Matt Damon and Heath Ledger in the title roles as Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm respectively. Will is the salesman of the duo as he is the one who is the voice of the scheme; Jacob is the brains of the scheme, as he studies up on folklore and magic. The Grimm brothers are paranormal experts who specialize in warding off evil enchantments and other various hauntings. Or at least that’s what the world thinks, as in reality they are just really good con men who’ve fooled the world (and made good money doing it). Trouble arises when they encounter a real-life enchanted forest with some missing girls from the local village, and they’re forced into dealing with the sort magic stuffs they’d be making up with pulleys and smoke. The problems arise in The Brothers Grimm with Terry Gilliam’s direction, for starters.
Gilliam has a problem in how he portrays the brothers. He can’t decide on a light to put them in; they aren’t portrayed in one light. For a director with such a glamorous past, Gilliam seems to be torn on whether they are con men, heroes, or men who are forced to be heroes due to circumstance. The light he shines is sporadic and without an edge; he seems unwilling to put any sort of focused development into the type of characters they are.
That’s a bit of a shame, really, as Damon and Ledger turn in solid performances in the lead. They have a solid chemistry together; Wilhelm is a bit shady, his desires to have wealth and women, and Jacob wants more than to just be a con man, and it’s shown rather well by the actors.; They also have a lot of issues, and Damon is golden in how he treats his grown brother like he would if he was still much younger.; Damon takes this to a much better degree than a lot of cinematic relationships, as he does the little things in how he scolds Jacob, etc.
A concentration on the little things in terms of plot would’ve made a world of difference. There’s too much time and plot contrivance devoted to trying to incorporate all of the Grimm fairy tales into the story. It isn’t subtle for the most part as Gilliam crams as many fairy tale references in as humanly possible. It goes from being cute & subtle to being annoying fairly quickly and doesn’t relent.
This is a shame, really, because the special effects and overall look of The Brothers Grimm is top notch. Late 1700’s Germany is vivid and looks spectacular; the attention to detail is remarkable. Gilliam has created a gritty realm that is just magnificent. On top of this is some stellar effects, as the spectacle required of a movie about fairy tales is very evident. The effects have been lovingly crafted with an emphasis on realism.
But even this doesn’t triumph over the lack of focus and fairy tale faux pas. The Brothers Grimm takes a great concept and doesn’t do anything with it.
Score : 6 / 10
The Video
Presented in a widescreen format with 1.85:1 aspect ratio, The Brothers Grimm looks fantastic. With a seamless transfer from the big screen, the film has a lot of bright colors and dark undertones that come through spectacularly. This is a film that has over 800 special effects shots and sequences incorporated into it and they look fabulous.
The Audio
Presented in a Dolby Digital format, the film sounds as good as it looks. With a great sound separation to go with the film’s rousing score and sound effects coming through loud and clear.
The Extras
Deleted Scenes are the usual moments taken out of the film for a variety of reasons. With optional commentary by Gilliam to go with footage that isn’t totally completed from an audio-visual standpoint, twelve additional scenes that really don’t add much to the film are ready to go. While there is a good action sequence to be found, most of the additional scenes are not anything special.
Bringing the fairy tale to life is a 16 minute featurette about how they brought the film to life. While making sure to note that this is a purely fictional look at the brothers, as this is a “light-hearted” attempt to look at them per Damon, this featurette is an interesting look at the film. Gilliam provides some great insights as well, offering up the fact that Damon and Ledger both wanted the roles of the brothers they wound up playing while Gilliam had wanted them in the opposite side. The featurette’s main focus is on Gilliam’s manner of direction and how they used the visuals to craft the story.
The visual magic of The Brothers Grimm is a featurette devoted to the wonderful special effects of the film. Running around nine minutes, it’s mainly focused on the CGI that populates the film. While animatronics and most of the sets proved to not look as good, or any good, as the CGI Gilliam turned to the animation staff to make the film look how he wanted it to look.
Featured commentary with Terry Gilliam
Score : 7.5 / 10
