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- Selected Review - |
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Topic: "Lemony Snicket's: A Series of Unfortunate Events."
Posted: 2004-12-18 @ 23:24:09
WARNING: Potential Spoliers. If you don't want something of the movie ruined, just go all the way down to the bottom of the Review to read the score and last word.
THE REVIEW:
Upon seeing promotional Material for this movie, one would think that it is one of those Bizzare childrens movies that don't make much sense at all. It's style is close to that of Tim Burton and his work in 'Nightmare Before Christmas', and it gives off a feeling of a gloomy mood.
This is all true to the Movie.
From the very Opening, the movie reminds you that this movie is NOT a happy movie at all, but in fact a fairly dark Children's movie. It even gives you about 5 minutes to see how gloomy the world of 'Lemony Snickets' is and tells you that there is still time to turn off the DVD, or go to another Movie or get a refund and leave. But from the last warning, the 'point of no return', we are thrown into the World of 'Lemony Snicket', which really is as gloomy as depicted.
At the beginning the three main characters, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire are introduced. We see that they live the life of the rich, and each has thier own personality quirk. For instance, Violet is the inventor. She can invent anything with almost any object nearby like a 14 year old McGuyver. Klaus is the middle Child (his age is never revealed, but it almost seems like he is older than Violet at times) that loves to read. He can remember everything he's ever read, and this comes in handy at times. And Sunny, the toddler, likes to bite things. Hard. As we learn a small bit about the kids, we find out that thier parents have died in a fire which has also decimated thier entire mansion. The color tint used throught the movie begins to truely show it's effect here, as they have a bit of an emotional section while the humble banker Mr.Poe takes them to go live with thier new Guardian, Count Olaf.
As we meet this new Character, we meet a neighbor of his which seems somewhat terrfied of Count Olaf. This begins to make the viewer wonder if this is a good thing or bad thing. As they approach the house, we get a peek at the twisted mind of Olaf. His house reeks of evil and twisted-ness, in a childish fashion that seems to even make sense to adults. In other words, Count Olaf is a bad man. He puts the children to work, doing horrible chores for him until he gets the inheritance check from thier parent's will. After showing himself to be a true ass, including one scene in which he smacks Klaus, Olaf begins to realize that this is going to be more difficult than he imagined. From this point on, he attempts to rid the world of the children's existance to collect the check until he finds out that they need to be alive for him to get the money.
The children who played thier respective characters did a pretty good job of reflecting each character and thier quirk personality. Including Sunny, who's lines were nothing but baby jibber-jabber with subtitles. Jim Carry's performance as Count Olaf is brilliant, and he definatly shines on the screen as he always does(Although his character is the badguy this time around). Every other character shows either love or hate towards the children (mostly love) and it gives you a feeling of a tight relationship being built as the kids attempt to discover what the family has been doing and the great mystery of the 'looking glass' that each family member seems to have.
I've said it a million times already, but i'm going to say it again for Clarification. This movie looks wonderful. The tinting is perfect for this movie, as it gives off a sort of wacky flair, yet keeping it down to a nitty-gritty reality look. Imagine a mix of Tim Burton's work on 'Nightmare before Christmas', the dreamish look from the Lord of the Rings movies (but much more subtle), and the Jhonen Vaquez attention to detail. Attention to detail is astounding. Each set piece contains so much to it, and even the backgrounds are full of life and vibrant colors. Everything seems to stick out and jump at you, and you are completly convinced that this world may just exist somewhere. Little things, such as the signs you see before the children go to stay with 'Aunt Josephine'. One that clearly reads "When have YOU eaten today?" and another which states "Does anyone know you are going up this road?". It all manages to add to the feeling and mood.
Sound isn't as pounding as movies tend to have in movie theatres. It could have just been my theatre, but the sound seemed to be kinda Minimal for the most part. Music was good, but not the best. Voices were clear and you could easily tell the type of person each character was from thier voice alone. Sound effects were done as needed, and often times provided a decent Ambient soundtrack.
SCORE: 9/10
THE FINAL WORD: 'Unfortunate' is a word used alot in the movie, but rarely in this review. That's because this movie is a definate treat, far different than most other Children's films as of late. Something that bills itself as a childrens movie should actually appeal to most everyone, as long as you like a taste for dark humor. A must see.(1)Comment
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