As in many of Gilliam's films, the cinematography is a star itself. From a forest that seems to shift and come alive at every turn to the spooky use of shadows, Gilliam gives the audience the perfect setting for what he hopes is the ultimate Grimm fairy tale. Unfortunately, Ehren Kruger, who wrote a very suspenseful "The Skeleton Key," falls a tad short with this tale. The opening scene of a Grimm sibling dying of plague is a serious misstep and the film needed more magic and fun early on. Instead, Gilliam and Kruger appeared to focus on the dark nature that runs throughout many of the Grimm's stories. After all, in their version of "Cinderella," the evil stepsisters hack off their toes to fit into the glass slipper. This works fine for older audiences but young children may have to stay away from this for a few more years.

"The Brothers Grimm," while not great, is a good movie. It takes the look that "Van Helsing" was going for and makes a movie 20 times better than that. **