My thoughts on "Pan's Labyrinth"

Rating: 9/10 (7 July 2011)

"Pan's Labyrinth" by Guillermo del Toro, is the story of Ofelia, a young girl who is moving with her pregnant mother to her new stepfather's house. The tale unfolds when young Ofelia sees a very strange creature on her journey to her new home which looked like a fairy. Ofelia then becomes part of a fairytale journey and learns of her "past life" as a runaway, amnesia stricken princess of a kingdom far away. In order to return to her real world, she must prove herself to be the true princess and complete three tasks with the guidance of Fauno, a faun. The story has a somewhat melancholy ending that leaves the viewer satisfied, but does not bring the happy ending that many long for.
The director of "Pan's Labyrinth" does an absolutely fabulous job creating the plot of the movie. He begins by putting the main character into a world in which she seems not to belong to, and gives her a way to resolve this issue (complete the three tasks to return to your real world). How the director created this evil and ruthless Stepdad for Ofelia is remarkable. The viewer gets a chill every time he enters a scene. The way that he creates each challenge for Ofelia is both terrifying and suspenseful. The monster of the second task still appears in some of my nightmares! It is truly a mystery, drama, and fantasy film.
By far the most enjoyable aspect of this film was the incorporation of the faun, and the tasks. I have never been so interested in a character of a movie like I was with Fauno the faun. The very second that he came onto the screen, and in each scene of the movie he was in, I was glued to the screen. Scary, gentle, mysterious, caring, interesting, and treacherous are some of the words that come to mind when I think of this character. The way the director makes Ofelia not trust the faun in the middle of the film, and second guess this idea of another world creates a perfect lead into the ending of the film where Fauno asks Ofelia to complete a horrifying third task in order to return to her rightful throne.
This is a must see movie. I would give it 9.9 out of 10 and would recommend it to everyone who likes an entertaining movie. Because of the rather gruesome violence that occurs in this movie, children under 18 and those who do not like to be scared in a movie should shy away from viewing this. Enjoy!