"Brothers Grimm"

This film was in parts disappointing and in others very rewarding.

Visually, The Brothers Grimm was superb. Terry Gilliam's become known for visually stunning movies and this recent romp into fairy tales is no exception. The atmosphere is gothic throughout, with strong colours.

Matt Damon (Wilhelm Grimm) and Heath Ledger (Jacob Grimm) do an admirable job, portraying the brothers as idealistic dreamers and conmen, yet keeping it real - they have sibling squabbles, and so forth. Heath Ledger in particular manages a good job, making Jacob slightly bumbling and oddball, without falling into complete farse.

This can not be said of the bad guys. Jonathan Pryce's Delatombe is ridiculous and overblown, making it difficult to watch this normally superior actor. Peter Stormare's Cavaldi is particularly irritating, and is exactly the type of person you just want to slap. Not good in a movie that is already dragging.

The attractive Lena Headey puts in a good performance as Angelika, though the regional accent was a bit of a novel idea. Monica Bellucci's performance as the Mirror Queen is interesting, and again completely over-acted, which ruins the character somewhat.

Overall, then, a visual feast, yet disappointing story despite the light comic antics of Wilhelm and Jacob.

The winding plot and dialogue left me somewhat perplexed at times, as the story deviated and curved in on itself seemingly in a way meant to bewilder the audience.