Classic AND Modern. I loved it.

You have to be a certain type of person, and like a certain type of movie, to enjoy The Brothers Grimm. I am that certain type of person. I love being swept into fantasy worlds. I love fairy tales. And I love Heath Ledger, Matt Damon, and Terry Gilliam.

However, the movie will not appeal to a good amount of people. It consists of lots of special effects, a decent (but holey) plot, and little to no character development. It's predictable, but has a few good laughs.

First of all, the PG-13 rating is a very strong PG-13. The movie depicts somewhat graphic violence at times, and even when it isn't graphic, there's still violence. There's torture, human burnings, and an exploding cat scene (although not quite as explodey as a scene in The Boondock Saints). This is not a movie for children, no matter how fairy taley it is. It should be likened to original Grimm fairy tales, not the Disneyfied versions.

The movie begins with the con artist Grimm brothers, played by Ledger and Damon, removing a witch from a town. We soon find out, however, that said witch was created by the Grimm brothers. They have a create-and-clean technique much like that seen in another classic fantasy movie, Dragonheart. The brothers are captured and forced to help a small village solve its very real enchanted forest problem.

We soon meet the token love interest, learn about the problem, and watch as the "notes" of the brothers' exploits are recorded into a notebook, which obviously is what turned into the fairy tales that we all hear as children, including: Little Red Riding Hood, Repunzel, Sleeping Beauty, Hansel and Gretel, Snow White, the Toad Prince, and others.

The special effects are quite brilliant, with moving trees, animal-morphing scenes, and a very real-looking forest fire. Many reviews see the film as a special effects-based movie with no consideration to plot. Now, while the effects rock it hardcore, there is a very nice plot with classic fairy tale bits thrown in. The Brothers Grimm made me laugh. It made me smile. It made me want to see it again, and that's all that I can really ask for from a movie. It's not the best film I've ever seen, but I have to tell you, War of the Worlds was worse.