Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events

Amazing stuff! The absolute king of the adventure, fantasy, comedy, family film genres. The story of two orphans who change guardians because each time they run into a weirdo. The film is full of black humour, tragedy follows tragedy, there is an absolutely diabolical Jim Carrey with his typical expressions, only that here he is very evil! The xenophobic Meryl Streep is also great – for example, she is afraid to go to the fridge and fall into it. 90% I recommend it to everyone, guaranteed fun. Made my day. (12/04/2015)

I read the book, but it was a really long time ago and I didn't realize its connection to this film until it was in progress. Lemony Snicket noticeably tries to adapt the book as faithfully as possible, which is certainly not a bad thing. What’s important is that Brad Siberling has conceived a very simple story about a cunning bastard as a fresh, entertaining and all-around fairy-tale spectacle that fulfils everything I would expect from a purely children's film. First of all, the sensibly chosen runtime (the film is only 92 minutes long!) is worth praise, as well as the beautiful make-up and costumes and, of course, the actors, led by a made-up Jim Carrey and an anxious Meryl Streep. As a small child I would certainly have jumped in joy, now I just hummed along contentedly... (06/06/2012)

If they had worked on the script as much as the magical, detailed set design, it would have been awesome. The expressive, distinctive sets are great, the fusion of old Victorian elements with the achievements of modern civilization is unique, and all I can say about Carrey's performance is that I haven't had so much fun watching an actor overact with gusto in a long time. But the whole thing is emotionally empty, you neither laugh, nor get moved, nor get scared, and the story is based on a simple plot and a stereotypical change of four locations. But I'm quite curious about a possible sequel. (06/20/2005)

This is great. Jim Carrey is really good here. You don't often see a prince like this Count Olaf. I mean, it is not seen especially today - in the (not only) crazy comedies of the sixties, seventies and eighties we would certainly find a few "good guys" like him. Praise also goes to Brad Silberling, because the film is sensational, it doesn't get boring and looks perfect, the performances of all three children were also magical, Meryl Strep did not disappoint either.... Oh, and Dustin Hoffman's barking was such a treat. Four and a bit, I laughed from start to finish. (12/25/2010)

Like the more recent film adaptation The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events suffers from a fairly similar problem, which is a fairly strong connection to the book. Whatever Lemony Snicket wrote and how he wanted, it is certain that this "revival of letters" will be enjoyed more by readers who are likely more familiar with the characters and, above all, the plot. The story, which seems to have been quite insensitively trimmed, unfolds at a fast pace, and yet while perceiving it, I occasionally had to bridge quite a few "gaps" with my own imagination. However, the overall audiovisual form should not be dismissed, as the artists truly indulged themselves, especially with the Victorian buildings, in a somewhat decadently unfolding directorial approach (likely inspired by the book since the main characters are named the Baudelaires). Behind them, the visual effects team prepared a very lavish set design that seems to be straight out of The Addams Family. With Barry Sonnenfeld as the executive producer, it all makes sense. And the actors themselves are certainly not to be condemned, especially the trio of young Baudelaires, of whom little Sunny is absolutely perfect. Of course, Jim Carrey, with his mastery of facial expressions and physicality, once again managed to win the audience over to his side. Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events is a pleasant watch, but the lack of a logically unfolding storyline is detrimental. (08/17/2005)