IronWatcher’s review published on Letterboxd:
Watched on Amazon Video
The idea was obvious: the whole world was in Harry Potter fever, the books dominated the bestseller lists, and the various parts were also at the top of the cinema charts. Naturally, the competition looked around for other works, hoping to cash in on them. The choice fell early on on the series "A Series Of Unfortunate Events" by Lemony Snicket, pen name of the author Daniel Handler. In fact, the film rights were bought at a time when the first adaptation about the sorcerer's apprentice Harry was not even out yet. But before Snicket's world entered the screen, it was to take more than four years, which were accompanied by financial problems, and the director also had to be changed in the middle.
The adventure did not pay off for those involved, at least not in terms of box-office takings. The box-office results were so disappointing that a sequel was never made; only 13 years later did an alternative series adaptation followed on Netflix, which also excellently conveys the quirky tone and the weird humour of the original. It was a pity that the film was not more fortunate. For even if "Lemony Snicket" has a few problems and is therefore not the outstanding work it could have been, its strengths far outweigh them. So much so that the film is still well worth seeing today and somewhat unjustly forgotten.
For example, "Lemony Snicket" stands out from other children's book adaptations for its heightened level of bizarreness. For example, there is literally no character in the entire film that one would want to call normal. Even the children themselves stand out very much from their peers: Violet is characterised by a heightened inventiveness that makes her assemble things à la MacGyver again and again, Klaus falls back on his knowledge collected in countless books on the most curious subjects, Sunny on her strong little teeth, when she is not talking in an always subtitled baby language.
At the centre, however, is Count Olaf, embodied by Jim Carrey, who feasts on his own wickedness. As is well known, the Canadian's career is largely based on his very expressive facial expressions; his talent for making faces made him a sought-after comedian especially in the 90s. He demonstrates this talent here as well, with a delight in overacting that makes him the perfect villain for a children's film. However, the audience should not be too young, because some passages of "Lemony Snicket" are quite dark, sometimes even bizarre. The film is much closer to the works of Tim Burton than what one would normally expect from this segment. The fact that much of the film looks very artificial is therefore not disturbing, but rather deliberately so. Director Brad Silberling has created a world all of his own here, which is also not really clear in terms of time.
While the dark and dazzling visuals and the performances of the stars, which also include Timothy Spall and Meryl Streep, are a lot of fun, the story itself remains a little unsatisfying. On the one hand, one notices that the film adapts three books at once, which explains the very episodic structure and the hectic pace. On the other hand, a lot of questions remain unanswered at the end, after mystery elements have been played with again and again beforehand, which are not really given space due to the lack of time. But these shortcomings can be overcome: "Lemony Snicket" is an enjoyable, slightly grotesque fair in which children triumph over evil adults and which encourages us to see the world as a great adventure, if we only take a closer look.