I haven't exactly reviewed many films on this blog yet (don't worry, I'm working on it...), and yet somehow quite by chance, I seem to have stumbled upon two that both take very similar concepts in completely different directions. 'The Brothers Grimm' represents somewhat of an adult take on re-imagining fairytales (a job that Disney's 'Enchanted' would also do two years later). However, whilst 'Enchanted' was destined as a child friendly live-action update of Disney's animated back catalogue, 'The Brothers Grimm' would seem more focussed on delivering as many warped and sinister references to recognisable fairy stories as possible; distorted versions of Hansel & Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, Princess and the Pea, Sleeping Beauty etc... all providing subject matter strings to the writer's bow.
From a cast list point of view, 'The Brothers Grimm' has a lot going for it. Hollywood heavyweights Matt Damon and Heath Ledger play the title siblings with more of a 'fairytale conmen' raison d'etre than their 19th Century story-telling namesakes. Sadly, for me, that's pretty much where the excitement ended. If Hustle has taught us anything, it's that conmen (or at least fictional ones) can be likeable. Sadly, the same is not true here, and the two become less than endearing to watch as time goes by (helped even more by Heath Ledger's inexplicable accent that sounds like he's biting through a live slug and doesn't want to move his teeth). In fact, while on the subject of accents, I defy anyone to be able to correctly identify what on Earth is going on; between the Frenchmen speaking German, the Americans trying to be English and the variety of regional British pronunciation on offer, it's a little tricky to narrow down any kind of nationality, let alone a coherent location.
Aside from that relatively minor gripe, the rest of the film seems OK enough. A few slightly dodgy effects here, and a couple of baffling mistakes that look like the director just couldn't be bothered to reshoot the scenes there, and 'The Brothers Grimm' isn't a bad way to waste a couple of hours. It does fall a way short of where it could have been if executed properly, but there are enough underlying elements of dark comedic gold (thanks mostly to ex-Python Terry Gilliam in the director's chair) that make it worth watching. Once.
From a cast list point of view, 'The Brothers Grimm' has a lot going for it. Hollywood heavyweights Matt Damon and Heath Ledger play the title siblings with more of a 'fairytale conmen' raison d'etre than their 19th Century story-telling namesakes. Sadly, for me, that's pretty much where the excitement ended. If Hustle has taught us anything, it's that conmen (or at least fictional ones) can be likeable. Sadly, the same is not true here, and the two become less than endearing to watch as time goes by (helped even more by Heath Ledger's inexplicable accent that sounds like he's biting through a live slug and doesn't want to move his teeth). In fact, while on the subject of accents, I defy anyone to be able to correctly identify what on Earth is going on; between the Frenchmen speaking German, the Americans trying to be English and the variety of regional British pronunciation on offer, it's a little tricky to narrow down any kind of nationality, let alone a coherent location.
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| Don't worry love. I'm reliably informed that Autoglass can fix that, and you won't even have to pay your excess. |
Aside from that relatively minor gripe, the rest of the film seems OK enough. A few slightly dodgy effects here, and a couple of baffling mistakes that look like the director just couldn't be bothered to reshoot the scenes there, and 'The Brothers Grimm' isn't a bad way to waste a couple of hours. It does fall a way short of where it could have been if executed properly, but there are enough underlying elements of dark comedic gold (thanks mostly to ex-Python Terry Gilliam in the director's chair) that make it worth watching. Once.
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