Avengers Grimm (2015)

This review is sponsored by

BUY IT

General		Extras
Category	Action Adventure	Trailer-x 2 for other films
Rating
Year Of Production	2015
Running Time	81:55 (Case: 86)
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Jeremy M. Inman
Studio Distributor	Gryphon Entertainment	Starring	Casper Van Dien Lou Ferrigno Lauren Parkinson Milynn Sarley Marah Fairclough Rileah Vanderbilt Elizabeth Peterson Kino Leopoldo
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	?	Music	Chris Ridenhour

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.78:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     In the magical lands Rumpelstiltskin (Casper Van Dien) has led an insurrection which has devastated the kingdoms. He breaks into the palace of Queen Snow White (Lauren Parkinson) and Rumpelstiltskin and Snow White disappear, transported through the Magic Mirror to another world. Shortly afterwards Princesses Cinderella (Milynn Sarley), Sleeping Beauty (Marah Fairclough) and Rapunzel (Rileah Vanderbilt) arrive at the palace. They realise that they will need to use the mirror to find and rescue Snow White but before they can act they are attacked by Rumpelstiltskin’s minion, The Wolf (Kino Leopoldo). The result is that the Mirror is smashed but all are transported, along with Red Ridinghood (Elizabeth Peterson) who wants to kill The Wolf because he had slaughtered her family.

     The Princesses transport to a modern American city. Apparently some time has passed because Rumpelstiltskin is now the Mayor and has used his magical powers to control the city and the police and to create an army of zombie like Thralls which he is about to unleash on the city. The women realise the only way to save the world is to kill Rumpelstiltskin, which will not be easy. Complicating matters is Iron John (Lou Ferrigno), who heads a gang not yet under Rumpelstiltskin’s control and who may, or may not, be friendly to the woman and the fact that Red has with her a fragment of the Magic Mirror. This can be used by the Princesses to return to their own world but if Rumpelstiltskin gains possession he can summon his army of Thralls from the other world.

     Avengers Grimm has absolutely nothing to do with the stories or characters created by the Grimm Brothers in their fairy tales, except their names! Avengers Grimm is another film from The Asylum, with their customary low budget, and is written and directed by Jeremy M. Inman; it is only his second feature although he has 22 credits listed on the IMDb as a digital imaging technician.

     Avengers Grimm is an unashamed cheap B movie. There are lots of establishing shots of the city and the sets are cheap, the dialogue and scripting chunky and the acting wooden. Casper Van Dien has 107 acting credits listed on the IMDb and is probably most memorable for his very square-jawed, and wooden, hero in Starship Troopers (1997). Here he is still square-jawed but seems to be having fun and would be a moustache-twirling villain if he had a moustache to twirl. The second billing goes to Lou Ferrigno, the original The Incredible Hulk from 1978, who in Avengers Grimm does end up a shiny green! Inside joke here of course! The acting from the various women is all over the place, as if they could not decide what picture they were in, with perhaps Milynn Sarley as Cinderella the most consistent although Elizabeth Peterson as Red is also OK. The action mostly involves magical powers rather than fighting, although the one-on-one fight between Cinderella and Red (or really their stunt doubles) is quite good and worth watching.

     If you keep your expectations low Avengers Grimm is a lot of fun. The short running time speeds by, there are some good looking princesses to watch and Casper Van Dien chews the scenery, although I still think he should have had a moustache to twirl!

Video

     Avengers Grimm is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, the original ratio, and is 16x9 enhanced.

     This is a low budget film shot with RED cameras and, I imagine, with a limited shooting schedule. Thus the camera set ups seem to make use of minimal lighting resulting in a soft looking film whenever the light source is behind the actors. Brightness and contrast do vary in the same scene when there are different angles and the colours have that glossy digital look. However close-ups on the faces of the women are crisp and blacks good although shadow detail can be a bit indistinct.

     There is some ghosting with movement but other artefacts and marks are absent.

    There are no subtitles.

     The layer change at 38:43 was noticeable in the middle of a scene.

     Not the sharpest print, but nothing to worry about either.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     Audio is English Dolby Digital 5.1 at 448 Kbps.

     The dialogue was sometimes a bit hard to hear, when subtitles would have been useful, but I doubt if anything important was lost. The surrounds and rears are not overly aggressive but are used for music, ambient sound and some effects. The subwoofer provided support for the music and especially Iron John’s footsteps.

     The music by Chris Ridenhour, who has 97 credits on the IMDb as he seems to score most of The Asylum’s titles, was loud, strident and not subtle, thus perfectly suiting the film.

     Lip synchronisation is fine.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Trailers

     On start-up trailers for Age of Ice (0:43) and Legendary (1:35) play. They can also be selected from the menu.

     I cannot find a review of the Region 1 release of Avengers Grimm but it looks to be the same as ours, except that it is NTSC.

     Avengers Grimm discards everything about the Brothers Grimm characters except their names; it is not to be taken seriously as the acting, dialogue and plotting are all over the place. Still, with popcorn, a drink and your mind in neutral it can be fun.

     The DVD has acceptable video and audio. A couple of trailers for other films are the only extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall