Welcome to the Fantasmagoric Wonder-Emporium of Doctor Phinaes T. Parnassium! Follow the rabbit through the looking glass and help the Christian lion Aslan lead his army of wood nymphs on a journey to recover the Chocolate Factory, and... oops wait, I think I just leaked the spoiler for the Wayans brothers’ “Fantasy Movie.”

While acclaimed director Terry Gilliam’s “Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” rips from the tropes of the recent spate of distinctly British fantasy movies just as liberally as the Wayans would, right down to the retarded name, he’s able to put together something here that you shouldn’t just dismiss off-hand. Never judge a Fantastical Wonder-Book by its cover, after all.

In modern-day London, Parnassus is a grizzled old drunk who’s actually a 1,000-year-old monk leading a band of roving troubadours around town entertaining with a mirror that transports people to a magical dimension spun from the visitor’s imagination. As it goes with these sorts of things, Parnassus ends up in a shady deal with a Satan analogue named Mr. Nick (an adept Tom Waits): if Parnassus can lure enough people through the power of their imagination before Nick can lure them to succumb to temptations of the flesh (booze, women, basically all the things that Waits sings about), then he can free his daughter’s soul from Nick’s impending possession of it. So there’s your plot.

About 15 minutes in, the troupe discovers Heath Ledger hanging under a bridge, apparently dead. Many people will see this only for the unfortunate Ledger, who died during its filming, but surprisingly appears in a fairly good bit of this movie. They won’t be disappointed. While not the sort of performance warranting “swan song” status (he’s got The Joker after all), Ledger’s trickster-conman Tony reminds us of what we’re sorely missing now from our pool of leading men. Some of the other major leaders—Depp, Farrell, and Jude—fill in ably as fantastical versions of Tony, but they aren’t in it for long, and they pretty much stop Tony’s character from developing properly (though they cleverly makes sense in the plot). Ledger’s last performance alone is worth the $70 ticket.

It’s just too bad it wasn’t in service of a more original premise. For all its talk of the power of imagination, Gilliam’s CG-laden fantasy sequences, though bizarre, are frankly just boring. But at least Gilliam believes in it, carefully crafting a compelling story out of these tired old parts that totals into a fairly convincing argument for adding a little whimsy to your life. Parnassus prizes above all else, the story—and as his tale unfolds, you get the feeling Gilliam actually considers himself the old drunken wizard, and this his tale of salvation. It’s worth stepping through his mirror once again.

4/5 Stars by Zach Hines.

(USA) Directed by Terry Gilliam. Starring Christopher Plummer, Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, Colin Farrell and Lily Cole. Category IIA. 124 minutes.