Pan's Labyrinth

Warning: It should be noted due to the cinematic feat that is Pan's Labyrinth, the author of this blog will be reviewing this one seriously as opposed to obnoxiously and unnecessarily sarcastic.

Coming from the director of travesties such as Hellboy and Blade 2, Guillermo Del Toro succeeds in blending fantasy with soul crushing reality in Pan's Labyrinth. Aesthetically the movie is almost flawless. Usually I'm not a fan of subtitles, I find them too distracting and a deterrent from the actual film, but Pan's Labyrinth is an exception. The movie just sounds beautiful in Spanish and the irony of greek mythological figures speaking in Spanish is an interesting contrast. The settings are lush and colorful and the costumes are perfect. Structurally the movie makes sense. The symbolically sound plot develops perfectly with enough minor twists to keep you interested without getting redundant. The characters are intense and they all fill their roles well, from the gruff and ruthless Captain Vidal to the innocent and pure Ofelia. One of my favorite aspects of the movie however is the sense that such an outrageously violent, adult oriented film holds behind it one of the classic fairy tale morals. It takes you back to when, no matter how harsh the circumstance, innocence and purity always triumphed over evil and the valiant were rewarded while the wicked perished. Pan's Labyrinth is honestly one of the most brilliant films I've seen in a long time. The fairy tale aspects and archetypes are there, while the maturity of the situation Ofelia is presented with makes this a movie perfect for teenagers as well as adults.