Pan's Labyrinth

I saw this movie a couple of weeks ago, and havent found the time to review it, but I found some spare time today and felt this needed to be said. THIS FILM ROCKS! I don't even feel like calling it a film does it justice, it's truly a work of art.

Writer/Director Guillmero Del Toro (Hellboy, The Devil's Backbone) did a fantastic job in creating one of the greatest hybrid films ever. World War II and Fairy Tales. It may seem like a weird concept, but the two worlds are weaved so seamlessly. The story follows Ofelia, a little girl whos is brought to a new home by her pregnant mother. This new home is owned by Captian Vidal, a strict and mean army captian who is marrying Ophelia's mother, mainly for his child she's bearing. When Ophelia arrives to the house, she wanders of into the backyard where she finds a secret labyrinth. In it is a mysterious Pan or (Fauno in Spanish), brilliantly designed and executed if I might add. The faun tells Ophelia that she is a princess of a lost city, and the only way to return to it is to complete three tasks. Ophelia must now complete these tasks while not letting captian Vidal in on what shes doing.

The film is beautifully shot, Del Toro really wisks you into this world and makes you believe it actually exsists. The design of some of the fantasy characters are just stunning, as an artist I really enjoyed the fantastic element the designs had. I also liked the fact that Del Toro didn't feel the need to use too much CGI. The film uses very little of it actually, a lot of the effects were done but make up and puppetering, an art form in itself that has suffered a rapid decline since the recent accomplishments in computer animation. Another interesting thing is that the entire film is in Spanish, with english subtitles. But after about ten minutes, you forget about it, your just so wrapped up in the story.

The acting was amazing. Ivana Baquero who plays Ophelia did an great job for a child actor. Usually you get flat performances out of them, but she kept the film alive and carried it. Doug Jones who played Pan or (Faun in Spanish) did a great job with his manerisms, he really felt like a wise old grandfatherly type figure, who happened to be a faun. Sergi Lopez did a magnificant job portraying Captain Vidal, a villian that you just hated but also enjoyed to watch on screen. I should probably mention the supporting cast also did a great job. Overall a great job on acting all across the board.

All in all the film was spectacular, I havent seen a film in a while that I can immediatley put as one of my favourites of all-time right after seeing it since The Incredibles, in 2004. I recommend it to everyone. It is rated R, and it is kinda gory in some scenes so I wouldnt recommend it for kids under 11 or 12, but defenetly a treat for adults. It takes you back to when you were a child and you found beauty and wonder in everything, whether it be a positive or negative situation.

5 out 5!