"A Series of Unfortunate Events" is rather enjoyable. I watched this movie with my young daughter even though she has already watched it 3 times with her friends, but i gave it a chance because she would never stop bugging me, but I ended up enjoying it as much as she did. It is a fun adventure that has a few scares scattered about and plenty of comedy for young and old alike.
Since I haven't read the books, I can only base this review on what I witness on the screen. Violet and Klaus are wonderful children in this film besides their very unfortunate situation. They are intelligent, not too mischievous, and they have a deep love for each other especially for their little sister, Sunny. Sunny is adorable. She is probably one of the best parts of this film. but my daughter had argued with me and said of how Klaus was the best part of the film.
The rest of the cast does a fine job. Jim Carrey transforms into three despicable characters in this flick: Count Olaf, Captain Sham and Stephano, the scientific assistant. He is quite devilish and pulls off all three characters with unlikely perfection. Billy Connolly and Meryl Streep are fine as guardians of the young children. Connolly stands out from the pack, as the caring and well-meaning herpetologist uncle of the family. Cedric the Entertainer and Dustin Hoffman have brief roles here, and the gentleman who plays Mr. Poe is great although i find his character a little bit annoying.
As far as set design and special effects, they are wonderful. There are elements of Tim Burton's films and the Harry Potter movies in the "atmosphere" of the sets. But this is definitely a better film for children than harry potter. the set was just horrifically stunning. They are dark, gloomy, and sometimes a little scary for the youngsters.
The music sets the tone in a neat and suspenseful manner.
Overall, a fine family film, though very small children may be frightened. Also, I recall only one curse word in the film(I could be wrong), but nothing to bad. It's a safe bet that if your children can handle Harry Potter, they can handle the scares in this.
