Tuesday, December 28, 2004

I, along with the Cooties, went to see Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events this afternoon. We all agreed that it was very good, but we thought Finding Neverland was better. Of course, you can’t really compare these movies with each other because they’re very different unless you consider that children and fantasy are featured prominently. Oh, and Dustin Hoffman makes an appearance in both.

I’m intrigued enough that I’m considering reading the books upon which the movie is based. The tale was clever and well told. The cast of characters were entertaining - Jim Carrey was very good as his character - he was sinister and campy without being completely over the top (read: annoying). This was no Ace Ventura performance. And the children were lovable protagonists (I especially liked Klaus, played by Liam Aiken, whom I remembered as the young son in Stepmom and also from Road to Perdition).

The visuals were as dazzling as they were in Neverland, although much darker - a child’s imaginary world with exaggerated scenery more from bad dreams and reality than the fantasy we remember fondly. I liked the juxtaposition of older seeming things (like the clothes and manner of speech) to modern things (like the techie gadgets and slang). It had an old world feel, but the inclusion of the modern made it interesting.

I can recommend this movie, but with reservations for younger kids who might find the sinister tone a little scary. This one gets 3 out of 5 stars.