3 out of 5

Director: Terry Gilliam

As with many Terry Gilliam productions, there’s much on display in Imaginarium, but it’s almost always at the whim of its director, and not necessarily designed for entertainment. The success of his films for each individual viewer generally deals with how much of his enthusiasm you’re willing to swallow. Basically a tale about the appeal of and need for story-telling (or however you want to spin the “moral”) Imaginarium starts with a lot of great concepts, then jumps right into an underwhelming CG set-piece, then starts wanderingly threading its story. As with Brothers Grimm, I worry about Gilliam’s application of CG. It allows him to have some of his truly fantastic visions splash onto the screen, but it lacks the organic feeling that really made a similar film – Baron von Munchausen – work for me. Heath Ledger questions will inevitably cross one’s mind during watching this, but I honestly felt like the film benefited from the character’s transitions (as wrong as that may seem to say), strengthening the loosely told story. The story is the most bothersome part here: I love Gilliam dearly, and still do, and feel very strongly for the points he tries to convey. But this movie played it oddly – not abstract enough to be quirky but not layered enough to cause deep thought. And the characters respond similarly: at certain points they all seem to be “in” on the story, and at other points it seems like they have no idea. Regardless, I sense this is one to be re-watched, and probably enjoyed moreso on those viewings. Anyone who enjoys most types of “experimental” cinema will appreciate what’s going on here, even if it does sort of “whisper” to the audience what could’ve been a truly impressive bang.