A Series of Unfortunate Events comprises the unfortunate events in the first three of Lemony Snicket's popular--a word which here means, "they make a lot of money"--books, of which there are plans to end up with a total of 13. So, no doubt, the studios responsible for this cinematic mess are hoping to have a potential franchise here, ala Harry Potter. If A Series of Unfortunate Events is any indication, I certainly hope they don't. While the downbeat angle that is the books' and film's most prominent feature is clever at first, it wears out its welcome so quickly that even by the end of the film everything has resolved into a semi-happy ending with the only lingering threat of more "unfortunate events" really only there to allow the possibility of sequels.

Oh, and speaking of the ending, how is it that Count Olaf isn't killed by the man-eating leaches, being hit by the train or falling off that incredibly high cliff? It reminds me of the cartoon physics that allows Tom to be blown up multiple times but if Jerry ever got hit with a stick of dynamite he'd die. The film doesn't come across as a kind of live-action cartoon, so this, like so many other moments in the film, doesn't seem to fit in with the rest. While A Series of Unfortunate Events has a nice, cohesive visual style, its storytelling style is mismatched at best, a phrase which here means, "like taking the pieces of multiple jigsaw puzzles and snapping them together, hoping to end up with a unified image at the end, which of course you won't."

http://sombrerogrande.blogspot.com
www.maskedmoviesnobs.com