The three Baudelaire children, Violet (Emily Browning), Klaus (Liam Aiken) and Sunny (Kara & Shelby Hoffman) have just lost their parents in a horrible fire. Heirs to a fabulous fortune, they are forced to live with their distant cousin, the greedy Count Olaf (Jim Carrey), who only wants the children's fortune.
Unfortunatly, things don't go well for the children. Olaf tries to kill them. The children do not perrish, but instead move in with their reptile loving cousin Monty. Unfortunatly, he is killed that same night.
The three Baudelaire children move on to live with their neurotic Aunt Josephine. Affraid of realtors and her own shadow, she is killed unfortunatly by a swarm of leaches.
It is then that the Count regains custody of the children, and finds an even sinister way of getting the fortune...
The movie, based on the first three Lemony Snicket books, The Bad Beginning, The Reptile Room, and The Wide Window, feels very truncated. The film's four story arcs move along very quickly; I have never read the books, but I can tell that a great deal of the book's stories has been left out. They could have extended the film from it's short 1 hour and 48 minutes, and added some more to each of the four stories.
In fact, they could have also answered some of the questions that they leave hanging at the end of the film, and there are a couple of them. This might be deliberate, however, in order to easily transition into the inevitable sequal.
Jim Carrey is the heart and soul of the picture. He plays three different characters, and each one plays right itnto he comedic talents. Carrey's manerisms and comedic style make for a great screen villian.
Lemony Snicket's a Series of Unfortunate Events is very dark at points but comes out on top at the end. It is by no means a children's movie, but children will see it and love it, including Carrey as the villinous Count Olaf.
Plot: 
The movie is based on the first three of the series of popular books, but the film takes the best parts of all three books and mashes them into one movie. The films feels too short to do the books justice, and could have, or should have, been longer.
The story of the Baudelaire children is interesting, to say the least, and for the most part, though, the film flows smoothly, segueing from one story ark to the next.
Visual Effects
Top noch visual effects. There are giant snakes that look incredibly real; the baby Sunny is put in dangerous situations that are obviously not a real baby; houses crumble before our eyes and leaches attack a wooden boat. All look very realistic.
Jim Carrey is transformed into the Count Olaf and two other people, one an old sea salt and the other a fake Reptile Hunter. The make-up is well done. Carrey hardley looks like himself.
Sound:
The score is ordinary and mundane, and not very memorable at all. But it works in the film.
Character Development:
No one really changes at all, and the children neither grow nor chage from the beginning to the end of the picture. This as well may be to set up a sequal.
Atmosphere: 
Realism:
Typical Hollywood adaption of a book.
Warren’s Rating:
7.86/10Is the movie worth your time to watch?
1-01-05
