Just saw Lemony Snicket’s a Series of Unfortunate Events. And unfortunately, even Jude Law’s guest appearance as the narrator can’t quite save this humdrum movie. Not that it’s a bomb mind you. Fun and imaginative in a Hogwarts kind of way, the plight of the children never really quite grabs you. Jim Carrey’s antics can always vary from hilarious to annoying and they do just that in the movie.
The sets and characters are ominous and bleak, yet strange and intriguing. And for some reason Dustin Hoffman wanders in at the end of the movie, says two lines, and wanders off (I’m just barely being sarcastic here…that’s practically what he does). I imagine kids will enjoy it much more, and it’s more tolerable than many kids films if you have to sit through them. However, there’s so much smarter comedy these days that appeals to children and adults as well like The Incredibles and the Shrek movies.
5 out of 10. It’s Harry Potter without the magic, both literally and figuratively speaking.
Well, you still didn’t change my mind about not seeing it!
December 26, 2004 @ 8:14 pmI was suprised to hear (on NPR, of course) that the books (that the film was based on) were almost as popular as the Harry Potter series amongst children / teens. Perhaps they just didn’t translate well to film.
December 26, 2004 @ 9:35 pmI read the first 3 Lemony Snicket books and they are aimed at a very young audience. I will still see the movie just for comparison.
December 27, 2004 @ 8:44 amI’ve heard the books are good too, I’ve been thinking about reading them. This is also an adaptation of several of the books, so maybe in combining them something was lost. It’s enjoyable enough, it’s just that some so-so movies are compared to similar better ones that come out at the same time, just as this can easily be compared to Harry Potter.
December 27, 2004 @ 9:21 am