The Brothers Grimm
Terry Gilliam has made some truly remarkable films. This is not one of them. His career is defined by a surreal combination of brilliant artistic achievement and runaway excess. When his enormous imagination securely wraps around a great script or concept, the result is a magical look into different worlds with sometimes terrible (or terribly funny) things to say about our real world (Time Bandits, Brazil, The Fisher King, 12 Monkeys). When that imagination tries to hold together a poorly conceived premise with little or no social commentary, the result is a sloppy waste of talent dressed up in fancy costumes and playacting on nifty set pieces. The convoluted story about an evil queen kidnapping little girls to gain their youthful essence has nothing to do with the reconciliation of the brothers' strained relationship or anything else relevant to anything. It's just a story, and not a very good one; and no amount of Gilliamness can cover that up.
- June 24, 2007
DVD Details/Extras
Dolby Digital 5.1; 1.85:1 widescreen; audio commentary from Gilliam (this might be the best way to watch it—at least he's usually interesting to listen to); deleted scenes that offer no help; a pair of featurettes whose only chance to be interesting died with the movie.