Northevenstar84

This movie fails in to achieve the one objective that every comedy has: to be funny.

40 something guys that act like 12 year olds, there's an original idea. What's worse is that I have to watch Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly doing it. Ferrell only has the potential to be funny in 2 minute increments when he does films like this. The gags just get old too fast. I know Reilly is a good actor. He proved it with his roles in films like Chicago and The Hours. So why does he have to participate in films like this? The premise is dull and pointless, the script is unnecessarily vulgar, and the characters are beyond irritating. It's irrepressibly juvenile in the worst way.

I understand that some people like this kind of comedy, and that's great. To each their own. It's great for you guys, because there's so much of it around now. It falls along the same lines as Old School, Anchorman, and Dodgeball, this brand of comedy that seems to have the film industry in a strangle hold. What I'm saying is that we need something different. There's just too much of this kind of film. So until someone comes up with something different, I'm sticking to oldies.

Just to clarify here, I'm talking about the director's cut, not the original American release. I'm not going to get in to the whole argument over which is better.

This film contains some of the most stunning imagery I've ever seen. Some of the shots are art pieces in their own right and are capable of standing apart from the film. An example is the shot following Darkness' entrance through the mirror, when he bends down and his cloak twists out behind him. Pure magic.

Ridley Scott and his crew built an entire indoor forest complete with real birds to make this film come to life. He puts an extraordinary amount of thought and planning behind the visual design and each of his shots which is the reason they look so amazing. The design of Darkness' character, especially the prosthetics and make up, is truly great. Poor Tim Curry must've sat in that make up chair for hours!

Don't get me wrong, the film has flaws. The script isn't perfect and comes across a little cheesy in parts. However there are also some great moments (the scene between Lily and Darkness in his lair comes to mind). The design is definitely the strong point of the film though, and who can resist a film so dedicated to exploring the struggle between good and evil, with a few unicorns mixed in to keep the kiddies happy of course. Basically, it's pure fantasy in it's most self indulgent form.