Some People Can't Escape Their Fate

Rating: 7/10 (21 January 2007)

I haven't liked a single Guillermo Del Toro film that I've seen. I didn't like Mimic, Blade II, or Hellboy. That's not all he's made, but that's three strikes. I felt like that would be the last of the Guillermo Del Toro films that I'd see, until Pan's Labyrinth comes along and gets tremendous praise. I thought, well it actually looks good, and I'm sure every director, even the lesser ones, has his day, and so I decided to see it. I saw it, and I was disappointed.
The movie has atmosphere, which I always like. I like how the film never leaves the Spanish cabin and the woods that surround it. And I also enjoyed the magical creatures, the good ones and the bad ones, when they were actually shown. The problem with the movie is that it's so uneven that you come in not really fully knowing what to expect and then somehow leave with the feeling that you haven't gotten what you expected.
The film takes place during the Spanish Revolution, and attempts to center around one little girl's adventure into a world of fairies, gods, and heavenly creatures, the Revolution being the antagonist that may keep her from reaching the etherial life as the princess of this world. This is hardly effective because the movie is 80% Revolution and 20% fantasy. The audience is subjected to waiting through scenes, even violent and action-packed ones, instead of enjoying them. This is not because these scenes are badly done or boring, but because we didn't come to see a movie about the Spanish Revolution and the evil of the little girl's warlord father. We came to see a fantasy. The scenes of fantasy are very enjoyable, but in all, they probably add up to about a half hour. The remaining hour and a half is lost focus.
Pan's Labyrinth is uneven in many other ways, too. For instance, it's a fantasy about a little girl, but it's rated R. The film is advertised like any other fantasy film, much less a fantasy film about a little girl, and there's nothing R-rated about it. So when we see that R rating, what are we to expect? Right up until the second I sat down in the theater, I had no idea what I was seeing. All I knew was that it was called Pan's Labyrinth. And it's because the movie doesn't know what it is, what it's about, or who it's about. Is it a fantasy about a little girl, or is it a drama, or is it both, or is it one overlapping another? Is it about a fantasy world, or is it about the Spanish Revolution, or is it one overlapping another? Is it about the little girl or is it about her father?
Maribel Verdu's performance is terrific, as is that of Sergi Lopez, Ivana Boquero, and Ariadna Gil, and the cinematography is beautiful, capturing the atmosphere I speak of, but they hardly effect one who is watching a completely unfocused story. I think that's the end of the line for Guillermo Del Toro in my book. I gave him one more big chance after three strikes, and he still couldn't quite cut it. Benicio Del Toro is a fine actor, but his brother should maybe work for a publishing company or something.