Warning, hard core Terry Gilliam fans (and I’m a fan of his myself) are NOT going to like what I have to say in this review of The Brothers Grimm. This is a bad film, and I regretfully inform you that it is also badly directed.
The Good:
It’s was really interesting seeing some of the great fairy tales referenced in the film with suggestions of how they found they’re origins. Also, from time to time the chemistry between Matt Damon and Heath Ledger had it’s charm. But honestly folks, I have nothing else positive left to say about The Brothers Grimm.
The Bad:
The film is just stupid. At times it tries to get us to take it seriously as an adventure/fantasy film… and then it has some little mud creature run away on screen singing you can’t catch me, I’m the gingerbread man (Please note… the creature was indeed made of mud). Constantly swinging from fantasy to slapstick to drama… Terry Gilliam clearly had no idea what on earth he was going for with this film. I say he had no idea where he was going… because I’d rather believe that than the alternative that he just plain had no ability to take it there.
The dialog in the film is a joke, the character direction was horrible, the visual effects look like they were done in 2001 and all of the supporting characters were such extreme 1 dimensional goof balls that I kept wishing I had to go to the bathroom to give myself a good excuse for leaving the theater if even for just a moment.
Overall:
This is a poor film… and yes… a poor directorial outing for Terry Gilliam. Perhaps 7 years away from being behind a camera was just too much. But hey, every director is allowed a bad film or two. Even the mighty Casey struck out once in a while… and even Steven Spielberg had The Terminal. I give The Brothers Grimm a generous 4/10.
