Pan’s Labyrinth
It’s no mystery that I am a Guillermo del Toro fan. He reeks of talent, and by the look of him, he likely reeks of some other things to.
Pan’s Labyrinth is probably one of Del Toro’s best films to date, both in the writing and in its amazing visuals. The pacing was perfect, which has been a problem in some of his past movies. The story of Ofelia is told in a very unique location and situation. The fantasy aspects of this film rarely come in contact with the real world, and one can argue that the fantasy world is only a part of Ofelia’s imagination. You want to believe the fantasy, because the real world sucks, but in the end I felt that the fantasy was only just that. Oh the drama!
The creatures in this movie were pure Del Toro, from Pan’s amazing make-up to the Pale Man’s extreme creepiness and incredibly unnatural walking style. These guys were definitely not taken out of children’s fairy tales. Del Toro’s fantasy world is phenomenal and surpasses anything that I have seen from Tim Burton. It’s crazy, but still has a sense of realism.
This is also a very harsh film. In fact, it kind of took me by surprise. Sure, I know that del Toro loves blood and horror, but I feel like it was taken too far in this movie. I generally don’t have problems with violence in movies, but this time it felt somewhat gratuitous. This was always associated with Captain Vidal. I can accept this level of violence when it is in the context of “the brutality of war” (Saving Private Ryan, Black Hawk Down), but I didn’t feel like this movie was taking that stand. In fact, every time someone was shot, I was expecting another shot at point blank range to the face – it started to border on the ridiculous at times. I don’t know, it just felt out of place and detracted from a truly wonderful movie.
8.0 out of 10
Why not 9? Over the top violence that didn’t quite fit
Why not 10? Pale Man gave me a scary nightmare
It’s no mystery that I am a Guillermo del Toro fan. He reeks of talent, and by the look of him, he likely reeks of some other things to.
Pan’s Labyrinth is probably one of Del Toro’s best films to date, both in the writing and in its amazing visuals. The pacing was perfect, which has been a problem in some of his past movies. The story of Ofelia is told in a very unique location and situation. The fantasy aspects of this film rarely come in contact with the real world, and one can argue that the fantasy world is only a part of Ofelia’s imagination. You want to believe the fantasy, because the real world sucks, but in the end I felt that the fantasy was only just that. Oh the drama!
The creatures in this movie were pure Del Toro, from Pan’s amazing make-up to the Pale Man’s extreme creepiness and incredibly unnatural walking style. These guys were definitely not taken out of children’s fairy tales. Del Toro’s fantasy world is phenomenal and surpasses anything that I have seen from Tim Burton. It’s crazy, but still has a sense of realism.
This is also a very harsh film. In fact, it kind of took me by surprise. Sure, I know that del Toro loves blood and horror, but I feel like it was taken too far in this movie. I generally don’t have problems with violence in movies, but this time it felt somewhat gratuitous. This was always associated with Captain Vidal. I can accept this level of violence when it is in the context of “the brutality of war” (Saving Private Ryan, Black Hawk Down), but I didn’t feel like this movie was taking that stand. In fact, every time someone was shot, I was expecting another shot at point blank range to the face – it started to border on the ridiculous at times. I don’t know, it just felt out of place and detracted from a truly wonderful movie.
8.0 out of 10
Why not 9? Over the top violence that didn’t quite fit
Why not 10? Pale Man gave me a scary nightmare
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