I've loved my share of Steven Spielberg films, George Lucas carried me through much of my childhood and in recent years Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro have done wonders for my imagination, but the two directors that have had the greatest creative impact upon my life are Tim Burton and Terry Gilliam.

I'll be the first to admit that Burton and Gilliam, especially Gilliam, can fall prey to their own imaginations and create films that suffer from the style-over-substance complex but when either is at their best, no one matches their brilliance. So it is fitting that while I wait for Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland" to waltz into theaters come March that I am given Gilliam's latest film to tide me over in the meantime.

Going into "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus," I had many questions, doubts and fears. Gilliam's recent films have been less than stellar ("Tideland" was dark and jumbled and "The Brothers Grimm" wasn't much fun) and, following the death of Heath Ledger, the director seemed destined to create a puzzling and nonsensical tale rather than an all-consuming magical journey. The last thing I wanted was a watered-down version of "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen."

"The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" revolves around a traveling band of performers who live within a giant horse-drawn stage. Unlike traditional performers, this group, headed by the magical Doctor Parnassus (Christopher Plummer), offers its audience the opportunity to slip inside a whimsical dream world where their greatest desires are manifested in glorious cartoon imagery. But this fantasy is not all it seems as Parnassus has mortgaged his immortality on a wager with the mysterious Mr. Nick (Tom Waits) and the time for Parnassus to pay his debts is nigh.

Enter the mysterious Tony (Heath Ledger), who is discovered by Parnassus' daughter Valentina (Lily Cole) dangling from a London bridge by a noose. Despite his initial apprehension, Parnassus accepts Tony into the company, believing he might be the key to appeasing Mr. Nick's demands.

Because Ledger died before the film was complete, the film was finished with Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell playing the role of Tony. While this might seem odd, it works perfectly (due to a few rewrites) in the film. The real shame here would have been to leave the film unfinished.

"The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" is intriguing, a touch confusing, but visually stunning and captivating from the film's opening to the closing of its credits. All of the performances are delightful, particularly Cole's as Valentina proving that the haute culture model has more to offer this world than a pretty face (but what a lovely, quirky and breathtakingly beautiful muse she is). Ledger is quite good, albeit his performance is extremely Johnny Depp-esque (which makes Depp's appearance in the film seem strangely appropriate rather than distracting), and while he'll always be remembered as the Joker, his performance as Tony only makes the loss of a wonderful, young and talented actor all the more painful.

"The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" may not have the biting brilliance of Gilliam's finest work, "Brazil," but it is playfully bright and bizarre. If cinema is supposed to take us to unimaginable worlds Gilliam has succeeded in the most wonderful of ways.