Gilliam's Parnassus is creative, but expresses its ideas with an unpurposeful vagueness. The dialogue and character development is weak, and leaves the bold themes unable to find personification. We see many charming exteriors, but are given precious little insight. There are unanswered questions, which is acceptable only if the audience wants to find out the answers. Pomp and swagger cannot rescue this film from its undeveloped characters and haphazard plot.

Although the film is still pretty decent, you can tell that it suffered with the death of Heath Ledger. For Ledger fans, this is obviously a must watch. For fans of Gilliam, you'll not be surprised, really, though I wouldn't consider this one of his better works.

Another disappointing effort by Gilliam, the abundance of great visual ideas and the occasional touch of satire can't save the movie from the emptiness of it's characters and lifelessness of the performances (seems like every actor of the great cast is on automatic pilot). From it's undeveloped storylines to it's rushed and almost tacked on ending, it saddens me to the see the master director falling short of the greatness of his earlier films once again...

The plot isn't solid but I was willing to let it flow and did enjoy it. Parts of it are tacky but it's strangely appealing. Tom Waits is truly fantastic and steals the show. It's not as strong as some of Gilliam's other work but it's certainly enjoyable, accessible and rather beautiful.

Despite sounding like something Troy McLure would play a starring role in, The Imaginarium is a likeable Gilliam fantasy that obviously suffered problems due to the death of its primary actor. While the setting allows Depp, Law & Farrell to jump into the role much more believably than they otherwise might, something still feels not quite right about it (particularly when their contributions are so minor). More time spent inside the wonderful world of the mirror would've been appreciated too.

the movie wasnt bad, it was well made with almost too much creativity, problem i had with it was that its boring and i didnt like the soundtrack

A film I saw alone and was glad because I knew my friends wouldn't like it. As with most GIlliam it truly is an acquired taste but I found it to be a visually stunning movie with more originality than I have seen in most movies in the past few years. The acting was wonderful by the main cast with only Troyer feeling a bit off. I thought Law, Farrell and Depp did as good of a job as could be asked playing Ledger in the Imaginarium. It's great to see his final role get pulled off into a full film.

Was great in the first half or two thirds, as long as the Imaginarium does not take over. But when it happens (when Jude Law comes in), the movie loses its feel for the narrative tempo. Besides, I really would have loved to see how the picture looked like, if the special effects were all handmade. Just as the first time the mirror is entered. The whole CGI trickery takes away a lot of soul and heart out of the flick as it looks way too clean. Great ensemble though.

This one wasn't good. Fair enough it was Ledger's last film and that gives it some added background but as a film, it was poor. Storyline was shoddy, the characters had no personalities, and the film left me kind of depressed. Had Johnny Depp been in the movie from the start, perhaps it might have turned out better as he can add life to any role/film.

A Gilliam exercise in excess, as dense, as heavy, as torpifying as a Christmas fruitcake. (Or as Brazil, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, The Brothers Grimm.) The muffled narrative gets overpowered by the relentless production: the desolate stark smoky post-apocalyptic real world and the digitalized escape-scapes, a bit of Oz, a bit of Wonderland, a bit of Middle-Earth, a bit of Maxfield Parrish crossed with Salvador Dali.

Weird!

The more I think back on it, the more I think I like it. It simultaneously feels like a progression and a return to form. Tom Waits as The Devil has to be the greatest casting decision of the decade. I will definitely be giving Imaginarium a second viewing, and I encourage anyone who felt unsatisfied by it to do the same.

Make of it what you will but TIODP is a grossly engaging film with some fine performances and a plot which oozzs originality. One of 2009's best films for me. ...not too sure on Lily Cole though..

Original, imaginative and not nearly as hard to understand as most people make it out to be. A worthy testament for Ledger.

I really liked it. While Ledger's death probably and bizarrely improved the film (as I think the sollution makes it only better) it sure seems to have lost it's way slightly and lacks focus. It can't seem to decide on a main protagonist, and subsequently loses a great deal of narrative force. Still, Gilliam is clearly back on form here and considering circumstances it's quite impressive that this movie has been pulled together this well.

A lot about this I loved, a fair bit fell short or felt false. There's no point saying Gilliam is a brilliant man with a glorious mind, it's common knowledge by now. I feel a little conflicted in terms of writing, as it felt deprived of a little focus and character development, but at the same whatever re-writes were done because of Ledger's passing are flawless. It's sad seeing Ledger on the screen for the last time; some moments in the film feel like an eerily natural tribute to him. Moving.

A lot of interesting ideas but none of them are really worked out well. The plot feels incoherent and ends in an anti-climax. Great visuals and great performances by Waits & Ledger/Depp but Garfield is extremely annoying and while Lily Cole is obviously very pretty, she's not a great actress. Overall an enjoyable film, but disappointing nonetheless.

Extremely weird, well it is Gilliam, but the second half felt kind of disjointed

Perhaps too whimsical for its own good, inconsistent in terms of tone, with a climax that is strange and slightly unsatisfying. That said, Ledger, Waits, Plummer, Depp and Farrell are all great, and the costume design is incredible. It's certainly imaginative. I could watch it again.

It seems there is also a thing like "too much" creativity when you make a movie.

This is a real work of art, so I like it in-spite of itself. It reminds me a lot of "Pan's Labrinth" and Pink Floyd's "The Wall", and similarly would likely be an interesting experiance on your mind altering substance(s) of choice (though if those are depressants you'll likely fall asleep). "About? Please, we've moved beyond your petty notions of plot development and continuity . . . but here's a hint: The devil is involved."

Way more solid a film that I could have ever imagined it being, I was drawn into the world that Gilliam masterfully crafted. The actors were brilliant. This film as a finished product was an awesome tribute to Heath Ledgers brilliant career. This role was perfect for his talent, and for time he was in the film you could sense that he cared about his craft. Farell, Depp and Law did awesome stepping in for Ledger, as good as they were one couldnt help but wish that Ledger had completed the role.

Despite its beauty and supposedly high concept, the makers of this film really don't seem to care if the audience understands anything that's happening. Still, it was somehow still fun to watch, and Gilliam's visual flair is quite apparent.

Heath's last is a decent movie. Interesting story and fairly well acted but it's just a little too bat-shit insane for me to really love. Although, I must say that I can't truly claim to understand exactly what is going on after only one viewing. I don't really get what Parnassus is exactly or why the Devil seems to mess with him so much and yet also help him out at other times. It was enjoyable but sad due to Heath's death but it would have been nice for The Dark Knight to have been his last.

While it certainly lives up to the "Imaginarium" in the title with an interesting and at times spectacular visual journey, thinking back on it, it seems to be more of a jumble than a truly coherent story. It descends into slapstick at times, but the ending was satisfying, and Lily Cole is one of the best pieces of eye candy to come along in a good while, displaying a mercurial talent that slipped into the role of Valentina with a skin tight fit.

Since Ledger died during production, Gilliam had Depp, Law, and Farrell play variations of the same character to melancholy effect. It's fool-the-eye, existential smoke and mirrors from Gilliam's obviously overloaded and exhausting imagination.

It's not nearly as good and poignant as Tideland. It's not nearly as quirky and offbeat as Fear and Loathing. But Imaginarium still manages to touch all the right chords. The acting is simply impeccable and the images in the Imaginarium sequences are pure art. Sadly the script is barely coherent and at times plain stupid. Could be much better.

It's definitely lesser Gilliam, but some of the magic is still there.

My rating is a first impulse. I feel this needs second viewing. I feel at home in most of Gilliam's bizarre works but this is one's up there pretty high on the strangeness-meter. The film feels heavily flawed in many ways, but it's utterly unique and fascinating in others.

The more I think about it, the more I love it. Heath Ledger was one talented actor and what a great film to leave us with. Admirable in its determination to tickle the imagination, Gilliam's latest film is indeed a breath of fresh air. It stalled during Jude Law's segment (but then again, I'm not a big fan) and opinions will differ about the film yet it's one I highly recommend. I'd never heard of Lily Cole before but the girl showcases some irresistible flair. Can't wait to see it again.

Fantasy is boundless. A movie about the magic and power of telling tales, just beautiful, and a worthy end for Heath Ledger

Despite having made one of my absolute favorite movies (Fear & Loathing...), Giliam still holds the dubious distinction of having made two out of maybe 10 or 12 movies I've had to shut off before the end and vowed never to watch again (Bros Grimm & Tideland), and this one very nearly followed suit. If not for Tom Waits I'd have probably walked out. Disjointed and whimsical to a fault, it's also tedious and annoying and for every good idea there's a fucking truckload of halfbaked, childish shit.

As the name of the film lets us know, this is a thriumph for old storytellers, immortal stories and imagination. After a loose start the plot finds soon it's path and gets better and creates deeper meaning towards the end. This is also a story of fear of death, disappearing into oblivion. And since Gilliam is fighting against modern dullness, Lily Cole is ingenious choise for lead. An icon of modernity. And she survives on her role nicely I must say.

Very fun but unfulfilling movie. Actors and setpieces: great. Plot and characters: less so.

As much as I love Gilliam, this film screams 'salvage operation'. Awkward, lacking pace and substance.

Visually awesome, well executed solution to death of an actor

Quite silly. But 'enjoyful-silly' more than 'ridiculous-silly'. For the most part. .... and damn that Lily Cole is one tasty doll!

Waits is great and plays an interesting character as expected. Ledger's character took an interesting turn. Overall, I liked the movie but there were some elements that prevent me from thinking it was a great movie.

the imaginarium of dr. Gilliam ... 2 hours of fantasy and magic

So weird that you have to like it despite all its shortcomings. Any movie with Waits, Plummer and Gilliam directing is movie worth watching despite severe pacing problems, weird shifts in tone and subpar acting from some of the involved (Jude Law and Lily Cole, I'm looking at you). I'd like another movie with Waits as The Devil. Please? Somebody? Anybody?

Imagery is outsatnding. The basic outline of a plot is there, but anything more specific and the story begins to fall apart. Try not to think to hard about fitting the pieces together and just enjoy the scenery. Ledger is ok, but not exactly how I want to remember him.

Visually, it's a tour de force, but the plot is lacklustre and appears to have been cobbled together from disparate elements in an attempt to save Ledger's legacy. In fact, his performance is surprisingly good, but not enough to make up for the weakness in the narrative structure and the hokey memorial elements. Unfortunately, the film (like Parnassus himself) is destined to become nothing more than a curiosity of storytelling rather than the magnum opus it might have originally intended.

The movie really confused me. I've prepared myself to dive into the charming world of imagination but somewhere in the middle I started to realize that it was too much for my brains. Too much of imagination, very fertile and amazing, but which leads to nowhere, I would say, with the story so weirdly told that I didn't get who was bad and good. Ledger was as always good. It's a real pity we will not see him again. The whole cinematography lost a young, shining diamond.

A bit disjointed plotwise and runs the risk of dullness here and there, but I felt pulled into the fantasy enough to be able to gloss over these short comings. Waits is great.

I enjoyed it greatly. Terry Gilliam definitely pulled it off. Heath's last role was a good one and was covered well by his supporting entourage. The story maybe could of been touched up on but only a minor thing there. Visually it was something else.

The imagination shown throughout is fantastic, the humour is darn good and the performances are generally great - Waits is incredible, Ledger, Plummer and Depp are all great and I still really like Farrell even if most people don't. Unfortunately the story is poor with bizarre start-stop pacing, extremely weak backstory for George, overly blurry motivations and an unsatisfying ending to our time in the Imaginarium. Gilliam's imagination is just so terrific though that I can forgive most of this.

Really unfocused.

Too strange for my personal taste

Glossy and gorgeous, but hollow. Worth watching at the very least to see Heath & Co, but when the movie's over, all you can remember is the trippy things you saw, not the plot itself.

As always with Gilliam: Its as if he threw a hundred idea-balls up in the sky and only managed to catch a handfull... On the other hand... Tom Waits as the devil... Not a bad thing for any movie...

waits. plummer. ledger. GILLIAM. the ending could've worked better, but anyway... GILLIAM

Really wish Jude Law had another profession.

Has a lot of charm and great moments, but its shortcomings are far too numerous. The story is disjointed and you're never given a real firm grasp of any of the characters or their motivations. Its unclear who or what is truly driving the story forward and it lacks momentum. Tom Waits was fantastic however.