It doesn’t seem likely that people would think of this as a biopic when the previews clearly state that they encounter real magic, though one might be inclined to suspect it includes some parts of their real lives.

I missed the wires.

You’ve hit it with this comment, though. Even I expected a fantasy with some connection to the Grimms’ actual lives, and I think a lot of people are expecting something a little more than that.

There you go, expecting things from Terry Gilliam… tsk, tsk, tsk. Just sit down and be confused like the rest of us! ;-)

It doesn’t seem likely that people would think of this as a biopic when the previews clearly state that they encounter real magic, though one might be inclined to suspect it includes some parts of their real lives.

I missed the wires.

You’ve hit it with this comment, though. Even I expected a fantasy with some connection to the Grimms’ actual lives, and I think a lot of people are expecting something a little more than that.

It doesn’t seem likely that people would think of this as a biopic when the previews clearly state that they encounter real magic, though one might be inclined to suspect it includes some parts of their real lives. I don’t know anything about them to judge though.

The weak point for me was the entire bit with Jonathon Pryce and the French/German conflict — I really hated it, and especially the Cavaldi character. He was annoying all the way through, and then the resolution of his character wasn’t sufficiently developed to justify it. Perhaps Terry Gilliam fans will like the farce, but it was just too absurd for me, and I didn’t much care for the gore either. I think it was there to motivate their continued forays into the forest after they realized that the magic was real, but I think that could have been managed in a more believable fashion. If you want the evil king and minions to drive the plot, go back and watch the Princess Bride again to see how to do it.

As expected, they throw in elements of many of the popular fairy tales, but more as throw away gags than key elements of the story. I think the story would have been much better, and potentially funnier, if they’d played up those instead of the French/German conflict.

Finally, at the end there is a scene that at first glance is stupidly homophobic. The action itself isn’t so much so when you think about what the characters are doing and who they are, but when you think about why it’s even in the movie in the first place (to shock the mostly straight audience), you realize that your first impression was right. Not that such situations can’t be funny, it’s just that in this case, it’s sole purpose is to play up and reinforce the "ick factor" that two guys might actually kiss, however unromantically or justified in the situation. It is simply inexcusable today.

I suspect Terry Gilliam fans may have a better reaction to the movie, and I also think I had too high expectations for it, considering I should have figured it would be rather like this going in, but it really left me feeling like I’d wasted the afternoon seeing it, even though there were good parts, particularly Heath Ledger’s acting…