There are unfortunate events at every corner that this movie chooses to swerve around along its course. The corners are negotiated with Formula 1 skills while the plentiful misfortunes are confronted with brave faces by a defiant and resourceful young party of three. Those three are Violet (Emily Browning), Klaus (Liam Aiken) and baby Sunny (Kara and Shelby Hoffman), protagonists of 11 books and as I understand, many young readers’ revered idea of children taking matters into their own hands in the face of persistent adult inattention. The trio is enthusiastically liked by young viewers, but the film has plenty to offer that would merit the attention and approval of their parents as well. As a pleasant alternative to feature length animation and Harry Potter’s exploits, “Lemony Snicket” wraps the point that grown-ups never listen to what children have to say into a beautiful, entertaining and promising package.
The three preteen protagonists are faced with misery and misfortune from the onset as the family banker Mr. Poe (Timothy Spall) informs them that a fire has turned their home into a heap of useless charred remains with their parents sharing the fate. Mr. Poe delivers the children into the custody of their closest relative, who happens to be the misanthropic 4th cousin Count Olaf (Jim Carrey) who promises to treat these orphans “as if they were actually wanted.” Their presence might not be wanted, but is certainly welcome as Count Olaf decides to get rid of the children and collect on their hefty inheritance. The part asks of Carrey to go back to his “Ace Ventura” and “The Mask” days of physical acting excesses, which he transforms into a tour de force of being over the top. His approach is mostly appropriate, but sometimes is indeed a distraction. Whenever that happens the underage trio swiftly reclaim control with their knack for dealing with assorted woes such as managing to find their way out of a locked car which Count Olaf leaves on the tracks of a steaming train.
The children are next harboured by the good-natured Uncle Monty (Billy Connolly) whose mansion is populated with countless snakes and other assorted reptiles. Before an imminent expedition to Peru, a certain Italian shows up who, for all the elaborate make up and disguise, acts like Jim Carrey, and the children recognise the feared Count Olaf. The next potential custodian is Aunt Josephine (Meryl Streep) whose Victorian mansion perched on a rock over a stormy see has made her afraid of everything and everyone. She has nightmares of refrigerators crushing innocent children, with radiators and doorknobs capable of even worse.
The misfortunes take shape with rhythmic regularity and are dealt with through a combination of Violet’s resourcefulness, the knowledge of reading addict Klaus, and little Sunny’s ability to bite. There are times when we feel the predicaments get a bit too frequent and instead of genuinely fearing for the children we are impatiently curious to see how they deal with the misfortune at hand. That impatience is more than compensated for by the truly beautiful look of the film. Its stylised grimness will appeal more to the adults in the audience and if it evokes the visions of Tim Burton that is easily explained. The production designer of the film is Rick Heinrichs, a frequent Burton collaborator who boasts the credits for the wondrous imagery of The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Sleepy Hollow.
The film is good in the way that the first X-Men and Spiderman films were. It is establishing the premise and setting the tone for a series of films that will be using it as a platform. If the directors utilise the enormous potential hinted at here and do the job as well as the comic book franchises mentioned above, we are in for a treat.