Review: "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus"

Some of you may not know this, but I'm a movie purist. I watch movies now a days, and think, "Does that really need to be CGI?" Horror movies especially, with the new craze being CGI blood spurts that only flash on the screen for a few seconds and disappear into thin air. It all looks so fake, that it's hard to find a good example of a CGI effect that looks real. It's even worse when a movie that's supposed to transport you to another world is CGI'ed to the point of being a reminder of how fake it is, instead of an enveloping effect.

That's the first, and most important, aspect The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus that I would change. For all my younger readers, Terry Gilliam is know for his fantastical films like The Adventures of Baron Munchaussen and Time Bandits, where most of the special effects didn't need a computer program (save for a few stray ones). In fact, the abundance of "traditional" special effects made the films more immersive than if they were remade today with CGI. Somehow, the pitch black portal of time looks more realistic than a spiral Photoshopped on an image of a door. The Baron and Venus looked more natural dancing in the air by strings than if they were animated. In this movie, the world itself, in its ever changing glory, would look so much better than it does in this movie, if only it were made with camera tricks instead of a 3D Graphics Program.

Despite this, it still looks amazing, yet, no where near what Gilliam has done before. Sadly, this goes for the story and acting as well. These two are related in a sense due to Heath Ledger's untimely death. Here's the trick: ironically, for Heath Ledger's last movie, his character isn't that well developed, nor (sadly) acted. His character, Tony, feels like an amalgamation of Jacob Grimm (from another Gilliam classic, The Brothers Grimm) and the Joker. This is even worse when it seems like his natural Australian accent is fake, even though it isn't. But, despite this, he puts forth a likable charm, and you can understand what he's saying. This is more than I can say about some of the other characters. Christopher Plummer plays the mumbling "guru" Dr. Parnassus. Good luck making out what he's saying half of the time. In his troupe are a young man, Anton, who is only there so the viewer can hate his constant whining over his love for the second young member, Valentina Parnassus, played by the creepy looking Lily Cole. Rounding out this freakish band of players is Verne Troyer as Percy.

Let's talk about Lily Cole first. This woman is not attractive. Seriously, she looks like a creepy doll. Her legs are like chicken's, and the only good shot of her is when she's in nothing but a bra, and the camera is aimed to look at her from her breasts, up. People, having a nice chest does not mean the woman is attractive. Especially when you consider that every man in the movie wants her.

Verne Troyer, more than anyone in this movie's main cast, chews the scenery. I think this is either because he doesn't know when he'll work next, or because he honestly loves to act. He's funny, likable, and way past playing Mini-Me... in a very good way. The other three Tony's, played by (in order) Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Ferrel, are either fun to watch (especially Law who has a shit-eating grin on his face the entire time he's on stilts), or over the top bad. This feels more due to the writing going through a rushed change after Ledger's death. Amazingly, though, it's Ferrel who is the most underwhelming, even though he's the only one who managed to get Ledger's mannerisms down. Depp does a more than decent job, and actually portrays the shock of being someone else finding out that they changed shape very well. And Law... well, he's just fun to watch in this.

The story opens with low expectations, but picks up when you find out that Parnassus made a deal with the Devil for love. Parnassus has to give the Devil his daughter on her 16th birthday, but makes a wager that may save her soul. Unfortunately, the Devil seems to be nothing more than the mutated son of John Malkovich and Jerry Stiller, and acts like either a goofball, or a silent movie villain. The plot also serves as nothing more than to force the CGI scenes of Parnassus's mind, which are themselves pretty forced as well. Unlike Gilliam's past efforts, this movie feels less like natural plot progression, and more of "look what we can do now."

That being said, I did like this movie, despite all of its flaws. The CGI is jarring, the acting is ranging from subpar to excellent, but there is no denying that the movie is an experience of its own. I just think that it could be better, and would be better if it was done back in the mid 1980's.

I give it 4 out of 6 imaginations.