Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

A Major Disappointment

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

There were some very weird scenes. The thing with the cat for example was simply gross, unnecessary and even a bit traumatising. The complete story was just vague and boring to watch.

Will and Jake Grimm are traveling con-artists who encounter a genuine fairy-tale curse which requires true courage instead of their usual bogus exorcisms.The best casting? Peter Stormare as Mercurio Cavaldi, Delatombe's Italian associate who originally has a grudge against the brothers, but eventually has a change of heart. Robin Williams was cast in the role before dropping out. Now, Williams has a history with Terry Gilliam and they work well together, but Peter Stormare is hard to beat. He excels at this part, just like he does with all parts.Roger Ebert called the film "an invention without pattern, chasing itself around the screen without finding a plot. The movie seems like a style in search of a purpose, with a story we might not care about." This is an interesting phrasing, and probably not far off the mark. Indeed, the visual aspect of the film is very appealing, but we are given very few reasons to care about the characters and their exploits.

Back when I was a teen there was a Cinerama production of The Wonderful World Of The Brothers Grimm that starred Laurence Harvey and Karl Boehm as Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. It was a delightful film that had some biographical material, but was more an excuse to put on screen, three of their collected fairy tales. Even adults could enjoy the film and one can still enjoy it today, but it ought to be seen on the big screen.Half a century later and we get an entirely different view of the brothers in The Brothers Grimm with Heath Ledger and Matt Damon as the folk lore scholars. But reading the Wikipedia article on the brothers you will not get the view that this film gives us of them as a pair of 19th century con artists. These two make a living off the fears and superstitions of a lot of peasants. They go to places there rumor has it a local curse is on the place. The two with a pair of dimwitted helpers put on a show for the locals with methods that the Ghostbusters would envy. In fact up to this point the film reminds me of a combination of The Ghostbusters and The Lavendar Hill Mob.But one fine day Damon and Ledger come upon a village with a real curse and an enchanted forest. Since they are folklorists they have to call on a store of accumulated knowledge to defeat the forest demons.50 years later with much improved special effects with computer graphics we have a film more likely to scare and no doubt people go to films to be scared. Matt Damon and Heath Ledger head a fine cast and certainly the time and place of a disunited Germany occupied by Napoleon's troops is better displayed.Still the fantasy of the Cinerama film is to be preferred.

For now, i use my credits to complete filmography of my Pantheon. The first honored is Lena Headey, whom i discovered as the courageous Queen Gorgo. She has the delicious British phlegm and yet there's something mysterious, wild about her. So, she was a perfect choice to play this cursed huntress in that small village. With her, Ledger proves that he was indeed a great one too, as it's hard to recognize this brother, with the Joker or Mel's son in "the patriot". Beyond those two, my bad expectations have been confirmed: Damon still can't play a likable character and Bellucci is again playing on her looks! If the plot is original (to derive those fairy tales to from real fantasy or to fake them to make a living) and if Gilliam is gifted with a camera, the movie stills falls short: First, the French roles are totally irritating and slows the movie. They were like the parrot Iago in "Aladdin", funny for five minutes and excruciating for more. Another big problem was that the sets look totally fake: unlike "Sleepy Hollow", i didn't believe for one second in this village, its forest or its enchanted tower. It was the same feeling with some key-moments (the rock that breaks the mirror: what a shot!) and i must admit that Gilian's love for baroque is sometimes too much. Finally, once upon a time there was a great filmmaker but at the end, he didn't have so much amazing movies!