Inventive, spectacularly creative, intoxicating.  Terry Gilliam’s whimsically absurd tale of a veteran vaudevillianesque performer who makes a deal with the Devil to live forever in exchange for his daughter upon her 16th birthday is at once delightfully preposterous and magically rewarding.

“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus,” Gilliam’s 12th film, marks the former Monty Python member’s triumphant return to the days of tongue-in-cheek, hyper-exaggerated imagery paired with existentially poignant and socially relevant themes as in his 1985 masterpiece, “Brazil,” and 1995′s “12 Monkeys.”  Only this time, the world hasn’t eroded into some ashen wilderness teeming with ferocious beasts so dangerous humans are resigned to a dank, mechanical underworld existence, nor has a Big Brother-style establishment (totally) choked out reason and liberty with suffocating bureaucracy and endless red tape.  No, the world of Doctor Parnassus is eerily unexceptional.  A smart choice by Gilliam that makes Doctor Parnassus’ rickety roadshow and his mind-bending imaginarium seem extra curious to unsuspecting passersby.

The story that surrounds this strange and (very) old “doctor” and his troupe of entertainers is as wild as anything Gilliam has ever created.  Parnassus, along with the maestro of his show, Anton (Andrew Garfield); his daughter, Valentina (Lily Cole), and his dwarf, Percy (Verne Troyer) wander from London slum to London slum offering drunks, transients and the occasional respectable folk an opportunity to pass through a magical mirror and experience a dreamlike world of unfettered imagination and possibility. It’s not implausible that Parnassus represents Gilliam himself and his life-long enterprise of coaxing credulous viewers into his own twisted fantasies.

But “Imaginarium” is more than simply an excuse for the eccentric auteur to craft stunning imagery.  The endlessly talented Heath Ledger’s untimely death not only required the alteration of the plot, but also serves a poignant reminder of the film’s existential themes.  His replacements, Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell don’t feel at all out of place.  In fact, their late and unexpected addition to the once doomed project feels planned from the start.  And we mustn’t forget about the great Tom Waits.  He plays the Devil (who else?) whose always nefarious motives are the bane of Parnassus’ long and tiring existence.

Gilliam has crafted a weirdly beautiful tale of love and loss that explores the fine line between the ordinary and extraordinary, good and evil.  “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” is sometimes brilliant and always entertains, and undoubtedly ranks among the director’s seminal works.

Score: 4/5