Ok, so...here's my review. I've never read the books. Before I popped in the DVD I was wondering how the snicket became lemony...and thought maybe it had something to do with an accident with industrial strength Pledge.
Once I was done with the movie I thought how different the viewing experience would be for adults vs. children and was impressed with the whole thing as a diversion for either adults or children.
I read quite a few negative reviews of it, and many of them focused on Jim Carrey's performance. It was hammy and over-the-top...but he was playing an ACTOR in a kid's fantasy book! How else are you gonna play that? Those reviewers really need to start caffeinating their beverages.
The scenes were very evocative of a Nine Inch Nails video ... with just a touch of Roald Dahl absurdity thrown in. There was this moment EARLY on, when Olaf was showing the kids through the house and he got to the tower saying, "Never enter the TOWER!"...menacingly...then he turned away from the kids, to the camera and sort of snort laughed without making a noise. It was so unexpected that I busted up giggling and had to replay the moment.
I wonder how many of his ad libs they kept in the picture....(this might be revealed in the extras on my DVD, but I gave up trying to figure out how to get to them with my remote because I had to start getting dinner ready). I loved the creepy acting troupe. The looked like extras in Michael Jackson's "Thriller". When they walk through the door looking for dinner...you can overhear Olaf saying, "Those women had stolen my kidney..."
Familiarity with urban legends helped there.
I loved all the kids. The one that played Claus has sure matured since "Stepmom". He had a great line, "Puttanesca...that's Italian for very few ingredients."
The one thing that really didn't work for me was Sunny's subtitles. I just didn't think (though they were occasionally cute) that they added much to the movie and they were a little disconcerting. The scene with Sunny and the snake was, however, precious. They decided to glorify snakes and completely demonize leeches in this movie, didn't they?
What really DID work for me in the movie was all the anachronism. An old car with keychain remote lock. Old fashioned car phones. Not that I need a lot of help to willingly suspend the disbelief, but these details helped me to let go of convention and enjoy the action and richness of language in the movie. Hey...a flick that has "puttanesca", "lachrymose" and "verisimilitude" in it gets quirky points.
Fluffy, er Billy Connolly was enjoyable...as was Meryl Streep in their characters...but Jim Carrey stole the limelight...and he needed to because the whole film was powered through by the energy of his characters.
As Captain Sham he had me in fits of laughter with the peg leg and lines like "why didn't I wait an hour before swimming." I've recently discovered Gorton's shrimp noodle bowls and I think I will probably giggle at the Gorton's fisherman now when I remove the cardboard. Which will be awkward to explain if there are witnesses.
In short....I enjoyed it immensely. For different reasons that I would have if I was ten...but I think I would have enjoyed it if I was ten, too.