MOVIE
REVIEW:
THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR
PARNASSUS
1/7/10
SYNOPSIS:
Dr. Parnassus has the extraordinary gift of inspiring the imaginations of others. Helped by his traveling theatre troupe, including his sarcastic and cynical sidekick Percy and versatile young player Anton, Parnassus offers audience members the chance to transcend mundane reality by passing through a magical mirror into a fantastic universe of limitless imagination. However, Parnassus' magic comes at a price. For centuries he's been gambling with the devil, Mr. Nick who is coming to collect his prize -- Parnassus' precious daughter, Valentina on her upcoming 16th birthday. Oblivious to her rapidly approaching fate, Valentina falls for Tony, a charming outsider with motives of his own. In order to save his daughter and redeem himself, Parnassus makes one final bet with Mr. Nick, which sends Tony and Valentina and the entire theatre troupe on a ride of twists and turns, in and out of London and the Imaginarium's spectacular landscape.
REVIEW: Heath Ledger, what a loss for movie fans. Just as he was reaching the pinnacle of his talent with an Oscar winning performance in Dark Knight, he becomes another candle in the wind. He did give us one last movie to see him in although his role needed to be supplemented by other actors. I’m sure Heath wouldn’t object to being relieved by such huge names as Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell. Priscilla made the comment that it was an “interesting twist” how the movie makers were able to cast and incorporate Heath’s counterparts in this film. It was fluid and not overly distracting. It actually made sense as part of the storyline. Unfortunately for the movie though, there isn’t much more to brag about. The movie is bizarre, strange, random, and dark. Priscilla also mentioned that a hit of acid would help you watch this movie. (Please don’t take that seriously . . . in no way do I want to encourage the use of drugs). Remember how bizarre Across the Universe was, well this is similar but worse. I will admit though, what an imagination! I guess the title is appropriate by using the word Imaginarium.
So how did Heath do in his final performance? He was good of course, after he had raised his own bar. The rest of the cast was pretty decent too. Christopher Plummer as Dr. Parnassus was impressive in this “different” role for him. Lily Cole plays the Doctor’s daughter Valentina and her beauty is quite impressive as well as her performance. Verne Troyer plays the Doctor’s right hand man, Percy, and to be honest, he was just annoying. I think I got a better perspective as to why he doesn’t speak in the Austin Powers movies. The most chilling performance was given by Tom Waits as Mr. Nick, the devil, master tempter and gambler. He was smooth, cold and calculated and he seemed to be everywhere. But even with these interesting performances, the storyline was thin and dragged out. At certain moments during the film I felt impatient waiting for something in the plot to develop. At least the visuals and special effects will help keep you somewhat interested. This, in part, is thanks to Writer/Director Terry Gilliam, the man behind such films as Time Bandits, 12 Monkeys, and The Brothers Grimm. If you’ve seen any of those movies then you will know what to expect with this one as far as the bizarre factor and the ability to be visually stimulating. In this case however, this latest work by Gilliam is not as good as some of those others.
Review
By Cine Marcos
cinemarcos@smartcine.com
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