One of the worst movies I have ever seen. Not even close to what I expected.

Rating: 1/10 (11 October 2007)

Be forewarned: This movie is nothing like what you'll see in the trailers. The trailers lie to build up an awful movie. Truly a caveat emptor.
Dark, boring and distasteful. Foreign language spoken. A movie that has to be read. If the trailers had shown more of the main footage and not so much of the fantasy stuff, I definitely would have passed on this. But, the trailers made it look intriguing - didn't say anything about foreign language spoken or subtitles. If I could give this movie a zero rating I would. Don't let the high ratings fool you.
Thankfully, I bought this as a Previously Viewed DVD (and I still can't believe I paid money for this). If the store won't take it back as an exchange, I will give it to my public library. On second thought, if I can't exchange it, I will destroy this copy because I wouldn't want to inflict this on another human being. (Update: the store took it back.)
Most of the characters left me feeling nothing for any of them. Except, I hated the Captain. Perhaps he was the best actor in the whole movie because he made me hate his character. This is not a way I want to leave a movie. Only feeling hate for the villain.
There are many movies that will make me laugh and/or cry. I fell asleep during this one. When I woke up, I finished reading the rest of the movie, hoping for something good to come out of the experience. Nothing ever did.
Even the U.S. title is misleading. How do you get "Pan's Labrynth" from "El Laberinto del fauno." It should have been called "The Labrynth Of The Faun." "Pan's Labrynth" of course brings Peter Pan to mind. This was obviously a deliberate attempt to co-opt the famous Peter Pan name to give the movie some semblance of credibility.
Okay, I forgot that Pan/Faun was a mythological creature and thereby showed my ignorance in that area. However, the purpose of making a movie is to sell it and make money. When the name was translated, it should have been literal instead of interpreted. That would have removed any possible confusion that the interpreted title generates. Or perhaps that was the point all along - to generate confusion, to trick more people into watching this awful creation.
One thing I did learn is I to check IMDb's reviews from now on before I watch a questionable movie like this. And pay as close attention to the bad reviews as the good. As many people already know, you can't trust titles or trailers.
If I save even one person from the torture of having to read such an awful movie, writing this review was worth every minute of it.