What do Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood, and Cinderella all have in common?

They are the protagonists and often ill-fated souls of the childhood fairytales that incubated the imaginations of multiple generations.

Enter the Brothers Grimm, one of whom is named Jacob, a real-life German folklorist from the early 1800s upon whom director Terry Gilliam’s vision is based.

In his modern adaptation, Gilliam, who also directed Monty Python, brews some nostalgia of European, off-color humor and an ominous eye to bring the brothers – and subtle references to Disney’s entire video library – to life.

Matt Damon as Wilhelm and Heath Ledger as Jacob portray the legend of the two fraternal conmen as they travel from village to village in French-occupied Germany.

They fuel the imaginary fears of common peasants by staging attacks by mythical creatures to rob the unsuspecting serfs of their money.

Their trade soon catches up with them, however, when they are forced to rid a haunted forest of an evil queen who they come to discover is, in fact, authentic.

With a plethora of spooks, ghouls and the French nipping at their heels, the Brothers Grimm are forced to live up to their name.

The formula should be simple: A veteran director who is very well recognized with flicks from beyond the pond is given a potent subject with two experienced actors to portray it.

Yet somehow, the bloke still manages to muck things up.

No doubt, there are some frantically funny sequences with misdirection, character humor and sounds – this is, of course, what Gilliam is notorious for.

There are, however, some sequences that are slightly too misdirected – the most vivid example being a test run of an industrial-sized, medieval mixer with a fluffy, white kitten.

It is unfortunate that these tangential, mostly unneccesary aspects keep reappearing throughout film, ultimately proving this was not an oversight, but a bad habit.

These random acts of gore come from the most unexpected places, making the audience look to left field to see if anything is missing, and also making unsuspecting parents cringe as their children are given the “true” side of fairytales.

Despite these setbacks, there are some bright points to the film’s, dare it be said, “grim” backdrop.

Heath Ledger’s character, Jacob, is based on the very real Jacob Grimm, who was known to be a slightly neurotic – if not entirely eccentric – scholar, and Ledger does not break character once while balancing Jacob’s habitual stutters and tics.

Being a man who is normally in the captain’s seat of a movie’s entourage, Ledger is surprisingly able to pass off his role as a quirky, unconfident man as genuine.

Damon’s performance, although not horrible, was not as diverse in his character-driven persona. Think of it as being a middle-of-the-eerie-road attempt.

Small gems of humor and imagery save this ship from sinking entirely, but the film’s structure is about as gray as the sky it unfolds beneath.

RATING: 2/5

“The Brothers Grimm”

Miramax Pictures

Director: Terry Gilliam

Starring: Matt Damon, Heath Ledger, Lena Headey

Length: 118 minutes

MPAA Rating: PG-13 for violence, frightening sequences and brief suggestive material