The Brothers Grimm - Matt Damon and Heath Ledger Battle Witches and Enchantments

I usually see previews for movies that look interesting to me months before a movie opens. Some movies don’t receive as much publicity so I don’t know as much about them when the movie does open. I didn’t see many previews for The Brothers Grimm or hear much about the movie before it opened. I did think that the movie sounded interesting. Since it opened, I have read mixed reviews that have mostly had a negative opinion of the movie. I did decide to go ahead and see the movie. I’m glad I did because I ended up enjoying it.

Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm traveled around Germany to small towns that people believed were under some sort of curse or spell. For a fee, Will and Jake would take care of the problem for the towns. The people weren’t aware that Will and Jake actually set up the situations themselves after discovering local legends. Delatombe, a French general had figured out what the brothers were up to and had them captured. Delatombe would let them go if they went to a small town where several children had gone missing. Delatombe believed it was the work of other scam artists. He sent Cavaldi with the brothers to keep track of what they were doing. Will and Jake got Angelika, the older sister of some of the missing girls, to help them find their way through the forrest. She also shared a local legend about a beautiful, vain queen. The brothers discovered that the forrest truly seemed to be enchanted and under the influence of something evil.

I think that The Brothers Grimm was a unique, interesting movie. The movie had a blend of fantasy, adventure, and a few moments of comedy. There were a few things done to scare the audience but I don’t feel that the movie was that scary overall. I have seen the movie described as horror and I don’t think it fits in that category. I think the fantasy was the most important to the overall plot. Elements of many well known fairy tales turned up throughout the movie without it being an actual fairy tale movie. I thought that having little bits from so many fairy tales show up made the movie interesting. Some of the references were more recognizable than others. Several of the things that happened were a bit strange and different, which will probably turn off some viewers. I wasn’t bothered by those things. I felt like the movie did include the supernatural since spells and curses were involved in what was going on. I liked that part of the movie. People that don’t like movies that deal with the supernatural should avoid this movie.

Will and Jake made their living by traveling around Germany and conning the people in small towns. They had a reputation for getting rid of witches and monsters. Within a few minutes of the movie starting, it was shared that Will and Jake had two other men working with them that helped to make it look like supernatural forces were at work. Something very strange was going on in another small German town resulting in the disappearance of several female children. There was some mystery added to the movie once the brothers arrived there to find the children. Something was definitely going on though it wasn’t completly clear what for a while. The mystery helped keep the movie interesting. This wasn’t mainly a mystery, so those aspects of the story weren’t as strong or developed as they could have been. There was a little bit of suspense added in a few scenes. People in the mood for a strong mystery or really a suspenseful movie should pick a different one.

CGI was used in many scenes throughout the movie. The trees moved and even attacked people in the forrest. I’m sure that was accomplished with special effects of some kind. At one point, a child’s shawl was floating through the forrest, luring her away from safety. I think the effects for that could have been done a bit better. I didn’t think the effects were horrible. Some of them just weren’t as good as they could have been. There was one effect that could have been a lot better. I don’t want to get specific about it what it was because that would be revealing too much about the movie. Some of the scenes that included special effects also included violence. There were a few things that were rather gross and even somewhat gruesome that really didn’t need to be in the movie. Cavaldi carried all kinds of weapons with him all the time and enjoyed torturing people. I didn’t think the violence was too bad, though other people would probably feel differently. The movie was rated PG-13 and isn’t for children.

Will and Jake were working together though they had a troubled relationship. That went back to something that happened in their childhood. Will continued to bring up something that Jake had done and they did end up fighting about it more than once. Will seemed to only care about how much money he could get the people of the different towns to pay. Jake was more interested in the stories and legends they ended up using to make their scams more successful. They also seemed to be in competition for Angelika, which didn’t help the trouble they were already having in their relationship. Matt Damon and Heath Ledger were good in the parts. I’ve enjoyed them both in other movies.

Angelika lived in the town and was called cursed by the people there. Her father had died over the winter and her sisters were the first taken. She had been sent away to get an education but she knew her way around the forrest and how to take care of herself. She was a strong woman. Lena Heady was good in the part. She did look familiar to me, though I hadn’t seen her other movies. Cavaldi enjoyed torturing people and tended to look for reasons to do it all the time. Peter Stormare was good in the part. He has also been in Constantine and Bad Boys II. Delatombe was the French general that sent the brothers to find the children. Delatombe got very upset when things didn’t go the way he wanted. Jonathon Pryce played Governor Swann, a different type of character in . Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. Monica Bellucci had a small part as the queen in the story Angelika shared. There really wasn’t much development for any of the characters. I would have liked to have know more about a few of them.

CAST

Monica Bellucci - Mirror Queen
Matt Damon - Wilhelm Grimm
Lena Heady - Angelika
Heath Ledger - Jacob Grimm
Jonathon Pryce - Delatombe
Peter Stormare - Cavaldi

Terry Gilliam - Director

The Brothers Grimm was somewhat different and I enjoyed it. I thought that the movie was unique and interesting. The movie will be too different from some people. It is a bit different even for a fantasy type of movie, but I like movies that are different at times. Even though there are elements of fairy tales included in the movie, it isn’t for kids. I wasn't sure what to expect when I went, so my expectations weren't that high. Maybe that is why I liked the movie.

If I had the option, I would go with three and a half stars. Since I don't, I'm rounding up to four.

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