Pan's Labyrinth (2006) Review

PAN'S LABYRINTH (2006)

Director: Guillermo Del Toro

Writer: Guillermo Del Toro

Producers: Belén Atienza, Elena Manrique, and Guillermo Del Toro

Editor: Bernat Vilaplana

Music: Javier Navarrete

Starring: Ivana Baquero, Sergi López, Maribel Verdú, and Doug Jones

Runtime: 1 hour 59 minutes

Rating: R (graphic violence, language)

Genre: Fantasy, War, Drama

Release Date: January 19, 2007 (US theater release)

Before Watching the Movie: Maybe read a quick summary or Wikipedia article on the Spanish Civil War of the 1930s just to get a loose grasp on what was going on at the time, since the war features prominently in the movie. Also, this is movie where the less you know going in, the better.

Intro: This is a movie I have wanted to see for a long time. I am a fan of Guillermo Del Toro's work in seeing both of the Hellboy movies and liking both of them. Then on my IMDb prowling and through some recommendations from people, I heard about this movie. Then a couple years later and earlier this year when a local blockbuster was going out of business, I bought the movie for real cheap, and a few months AFTER that, I got around to watching it. My waiting did not go unrewarded. Pan's Labyrinth, though its  is a brilliant movie in almost every way and is and a masterpiece for Del Toro as it successfully blends brutal war and mind-bending fantasy elements so seamlessly.

Plot: Like I mentioned above, it's best to go into the movie with not a lot of information, so I'll keep this section relatively short. In 1944, during the brutal Spanish Civil War, a young girl name Ofelia (Baquero) and her pregnant mother are being sent to the countryside to live with Ofelia's new stepfather (Lopez), who is a captain in Franco's army. Ofelia is obsessed with fairytales and one day she is led by a fairy into a nearby labyrinth, where a faun tells her she is a long-lost reincarnation of a princess. Ofelia buys into this and the faun gives her a series of tasks for her to prove her royalty in. She has to carry out her tasks while trying to appease her sadistic stepfather and avoid getting tangled in an escalating Spanish Civil War conflict

Things people may find “objectionable”: The main objectionable thing in the movie is the violence. Some of the violence can be pretty brutal, as Del Toro tries to capture the bloodiness of the Spanish Civil War. There are also a couple uses of the F-word, but if you don't speak Spanish and don't read the subtitles, you won't know!

Ratings:

     -Directing/Cinematography: 10/10. Incredible directing. Del Toro is a fantastic director, and it's clear that Pan's Labyrinth is his masterpiece. He spectacularly blends the fantastical and the realistic elements of the movie to the point where they seamlessly coexist.

     -Acting: 10/10. Great performances by the entire cast. Sergi López, in my opinion, gives the best  performance as Ofelia's sadistic stepfather and army captain.

     -Writing: 9/10.

          -Story: 10/10. The key to having a great story is to always keep the audience guessing what is going to happen next. This is exactly what Pan's Labyrinth's story was like. Even towards the end of the movie, it was impossible to predict the ending, or even where Del Toro was going to take the story. The story also had its share of plot twists that were completely unpredictable.

          -Script: 8/10.  Solid script, even after the translation from Spanish to English. I think Del Toro made sure the translation was accurate since he speaks both English and Spanish.

     -Special Effects: 9/10. The movie is a few years old, so the effects are not what they are today. Even so, the effects work amazingly well with the movie.

Normally I'd add a picture from the movie,
but if I did, it might spoil some of the
creepier moments, so instead, here's a cool
alternate poster I found on the internet.

     -Music/Score: 7/10. Since it's been a month and a half since I've seen the movie (I need to get a review out, that's why!), I honestly can't remember the score that much, but what I remember of it was good and fit the movie well.

     -Power/Emotion: 10/10. Since the story was completely unpredictable, as I mentioned above, it was easy to become concerned with the fates of the characters. By the end, you really get to care about the characters and feel really bad when something terrible happens to them.

     -Adrenaline: 9/10. The tension in the movie started out high and only got higher

     -Mind-Bendingness: 9/10. As this is a fantasy movie, there are definitely some mind-bending moments in the movie, and Del Toro masterfully blends them in with the more reality-grounded Spanish Civil War aspect of the movie. The most mind-bending elements are the spectacular and weird creatures Del Toro comes up with. Creating imaginative monsters is definitely a strength for Del Toro.

     -Humor: n/a. The movie is heavy and dark throughout and leaves little room for humor. Still, the movie doesn't suffer one bit from the absence of humor.

     -Final Score: Pan's Labyrinth is a fantastic movie in every way and is easily one of the best I have seen all year. I'd recommend this to anyone who likes fantasy movies or just wants to see a great film. If you can stand the violence and the subtitles, watch this movie. You will not be disappointed.

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