Review of the week: The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

Yeah I know. Second post of my blog and it already looks like I watch films ALL the time. Well I do, kinda. But this week its been a bit extreme, sitting around watching South Park and sneezing constantly. You see, I have a little known illness called “the flu”. My girlfriends been around though, helping me out, buying me bread, ibuprofen, chocolate and tomato soup. Good times.

Back to the film. I watched it in two halves (because it wasn't that great). My girlfriend said something that I agree with, “WOAH this film looks cool!”. Lots of Tim Burton stuff here. Motels in deserts, midgets (Mini-Me is the most entertaining character in the film) and gangsters. However, its all a bit too wacky for my liking and the story becomes incredibly hard to follow, with random stuff happening everywhere.

The movie starts off weird enough. London lads coming out as the pubs close and all of a sudden one of them is thrown into this world where his imagination takes over. It's like the best acid trip ever. Apart from the fact that he gets beaten up by some girl (weird Lily Cole anyone?).

I was getting really excited, but then Heath Ledger came into the picture, randomly. He's also mystical and weird. Doesn't remember anything but has some amazing ideas about the stage show. He changes into Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell, all of whom completely change the character that Ledger originally introduced.

I know it was Heath's last film, but its not very good. The story consists of souls being taken, the devil and an old monk geezer who needs to stop drinking so excessively. All this crap is saved by a brilliant array of minor characters. Andrew Garfield, well known for his role in “Boy A” (which I watched the other day) is a funny little cockney guy. Adding some light to an otherwise dark and boring saga. Mini-Me is also funny and cracks a few jokes here and there. There's even an appearance from Mr Peter Stormare who plays “The President of the World”. To be honest, if these 3 guys hadn't been in the movie, nothing would have excited me.

All in all, an all right film. Worth watching I guess, but be prepared to completely lose yourself in the story. And not in a good way.

5/10