Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events

We're very concerned
We're very concerned
LEMONY SNICKET'S A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS (PG)
D: Brad Silberling
Paramount/Dreamworks/Nickelodeon  (Jim Van Wyck, Walter F. Parkes & Laurie MacDonald)
US/Germany 2004
108 mins

Fantasy/Adventure/Comedy

W: Robert Gordon [based on the books "The Bad Beginning", "The Reptile Room" & "The Wide Window" by Lemony Snicket]
DP: Emmanuel Lubezki
Ed: Michael Kahn
Mus: Thomas Newman
PD: Rick Heinrichs
Cos: Colleen Atwood

Jim Carrey (Count Olaf), Liam Aiken (Klaus Baudelaire), Emily Browning (Violet Baudelaire), Kara Hoffman / Shelby Hoffman (Sunny Baudelaire), Timothy Spall (Mr. Poe), Catherine O'Hara (Justice Strauss), Billy Connolly (Dr. Montgomery Montgomery), Meryl Streep (Josephine Anwhistle), Jude Law (Lemony Snicket)

Any average viewer would be forgiven for thinking Tim Burton was the director of this project. It looks like his work, plays like his work, and if it were to give off odour, would probably smell like his work too.
This gothic fantasy, narrated by Jude Law as the author who penned a series of macabre books for young adolescents, pits a trio of children against a wicked master of disguise who plans to cheat them out of their inheritance.      
The tall tales of rich imagination are brilliantly brought to screen with some impressive production design as well as excellent costumes, makeup and visual effects. Jim Carrey does his usual clowning about, but for the most part, it works quite well in this film.
6/10

Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events