From realism into cartoon

Rating: 6/10 (20 May 2017)

Some movies progress from a cartoonish style into realism â€“ think of the animated flashbacks of Krampus or Harry Potter. This movies does the opposite. In particular, the fiend looks like a fuzzy version of Snow White's evil queen, and we see more and more of her as the movie progresses. It is no surprise that Del Toro produced this movie and was set to direct it. The last scene, with its heavy CGI and exclusively blue color palette seems to have been lifted from Pan's Labyrinth. In other movies, stylization shows how the memory transforms the past into legend. Or how one mind disconnects from reality, like in Pan's Labyrinth. Here there is not much reason for it. It works to the movie's advantage however, as it elevates what threatened to sag into a classic scary girl story into a more memorable fantasy show.