Remember in early 2008 when Heath Ledger died and the buzz was all about the movie he had just completed, The Dark Knight, and the one he was filming at the time, The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus? Well here we are two years later finally getting the finished project in the states. There were studio conflicts and of course the issue of substituting other actors to complete Ledger’s role. But, the trailers and all the hype leading up to the release made the film look so weird. I was even a bit tentative to go see it, but I did. I found that it was actually a very reasonable movie with just the right amount of weird.
Going into the movie expecting stellar performances from Ledger, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell. I was pleasantly surprised by unknowns Andrew Garfield (Anton), and Lily Cole (Valentina) though who really made the movie tick. Surrounded by a cast of heavyweights it would have been really easy to be overshadowed but the script and the performances showcased the pair very well.
As for the fore mentioned heavyweights they performed as expected. Heath Ledger played one of his more interesting roles and at times his Tony character seemed to channel The Joker of The Dark Knight but it was a quality role to be his last. The other three did well making the movie complete and it flowed seamlessly.
If anything I don’t think my mind is open enough to the “trippy” scenes that Dr. Parnassus boasts, which was the same problem I had with movies like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. But even so the American audience should definitely go see this film not only because it’s Heath Ledger’s last project but because it is a quality production with a pretty unique storyline playing on the concept of good v. evil and humanity’s role in the battle. Plus Verne Troyer is awesome in it…yes, actually. (9 out of 10)
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