Good but...disappointing

Rating: 7/10 (16 September 2007)

Guillermo del Toro's fairytale for adults.
Yea.
How do I write about this film? (I think you should prepare yourselves for a "but...") Across the board this is a masterful motion picture. The acting, the writing, the craft are all super but I didn't completely connect with it, certainly I'm left puzzled by the ending.
More horrors of war story with fairytale elements added in this is the story of Ofelia, a young girl who goes with her pregnant and very sick mother to join her new step father. The stepfather is a Captain Vidal who is stationed in the Spanish country side looking for rebels.Vidal wants his wife near so that his son will be born near his father. The story follows as Ofelia "escapes" into the labyrinth and the fairy tale world, it also follows Vidal's attempts to ruthlessly put down the rebels. (Its probably a 75/25 split) To be honest I'm going to have to watch this again. No I don't think watching this at 4am had anything to do with my almost ambivalent disappointment with the film. Its good, it follows the classic fairytale forms but I'm not sure what del Toro was getting at. I can see why people love the film but at the same time it eluded me. (I also could see the wheels of its construction in motion). I think on some level I'm puzzled that del Toro didn't make things seem less moved by the directors hand. I will not discuss what happens simply because it would require more spoilers than are allowed by law.
Don't get me wrong its a good movie, not a great one, though I reserve the right to change my mind on a second viewing.
Graphically violent (an early scene has a man's face smashed in with a bottle) this is pure undiluted Grimm Brother territory. Everything is dark and bleak. The villain of the piece, the wicked Stepfather, is one of the vilest characters to ever cross the screen. He's the sort of person who would put red hot shoes on the wicked queen in snow white and make her dance herself to death (and del Toro is the guy who'd show it.). Its not make believe violence.so be warned.