Good, But Not Great

Rating: 6/10 (4 October 2008)

I'm afraid I'm in the minority here but after watching Pan's Labyrinth tonight I've got to say, I was incredibly disappointed. I mean, there's nothing wrong with the film itself, it's an interesting, clever and dark story of how a young girl copes with her grief via fantasy's, set in the fascist Spain of 1944. What I found that let the film down was reading and hearing all these brilliant reviews of how this film was one of the greatest movies of the past 10 years, nay, one of the greatest films EVER created. And that was my problem - it was a good film, but it wasn't brilliant, and after expecting so much more, I felt hollow at the end of this film, like I'd been cheated out of an incredible movie.
The story follows 11 year old Ofelia, who's mother is pregnant and has recently married Captain Vidal, a brutal, cruel, abusive and unfeeling army man who is only interested in his new wife because of the baby she is carrying in her womb. Ofelia's mother is ill, and the country is in the middle of civil war, and Ofelia, to escape the brutality and cruelty of real life, creates a fantasy in her head where she is the princess and if she completes three tasks set to her by the faun, then she will be able to go to the world where her 'real' father is, and leave this horrible world behind. I've got to say, the imagination of the film is incredible - the story is beautiful -, the script is good (what was translated of it at any rate), and the acting is superb, but my issue was that I never really connected with any of the characters emotionally (the dramatic end didn't really move me at all), and that the world Ofelia creates for herself is too childish and silly for me to ever get drawn in to it's story. I feel like I have to mention Serji Lopez on account of his performance as Captain Vidal, which really was quite superb, and I also believe the director Guillermo del Toro did a great job with the film. Hence the three stars. But overall I didn't fall in love with this movie, and although I may watch it again if it is on the TV, I won't be recommending it highly to my friends, or rushing out to buy the DVD because I just HAVE to see it again. A good movie, not great, - just don't go in expecting a masterpiece. That way you may enjoy it far more than I have.