Over Hyped

Rating: 2/10 (24 November 2006)

I was really looking forward to this movie but was really let down by it instead. I truly cannot fathom the critical masturbation that seems to be going on surrounding this "masterpiece". If this is a masterpiece then the bar for high quality works of art in film has been reduced to a new low. The film is not bad, had I seen it out of context I would have thought it a watchable distraction with some slow uninteresting parts but pretty good effects. Instead I'm told this is a masterful, beautiful work of genius. It is not. It is far from it. The tone is far from magical for the fantasy pieces, and far from intriguing, dramatic or real for the civil war sequences.
The tone is dour overall. The child actress Ivana Baquero does a great job in scenes dealing with sadness or cruelty. But as for a range of emotions she doesn't seem to go much further than this. I don't think I can remember Ofelia laughing at any stage, or being truly angry, or truly enchanted by these fascinating creatures appearing before her. "I saw a fairy" she says to her Mother  "Did you? Well you sure don't look like you did" should have been the response. For that matter I don't think I can remember her convey much emotions apart from her the overall subdued morbidity. Perhaps Del Toro intended this but I doubt it and it tends to create very simplistic characters. The Father Vidal is a predictable card board cut out bad guy. Has this very obvious fact floated over the critics heads? The camera is pedestrian and unremarkable, and the production design could/should have been much better. I found the music was not evocative and certainly not enchanting or magical.
**MAJOR SPOILER AHEAD STOP NOW** Things got even more diluted and un-focused toward the end, the Faun returns because the script merely requires him to and he decides to give Ofelia another chance. And killing the kid felt very forced and manipulative. I tend to feel if this hadn't happened and the "real" war scenes had been removed praise for the film would have been considerably reduced. These are the scenes designed to induce a feeling of bold greatness in the audience but I found them to be cheap tricks in a slightly above average film. "The Devils Backbone" remains Del Toros best film. Campared to that Pan is poor indeed.