Watch without listening to the hype

Rating: 5/10 (29 November 2014)

Pan's Labyrinth, Guillermo del Toro's universally adored dark fairy tale for grown ups, follows the step daughter of a nasty army officer who escapes into a mysterious fantasy world. This is very audacious as it's combining a fantasy world populated with dream like creatures with a brutal real world where war and violence reign supreme. This is a bold movie, and maybe that's why people raved about it since it works partially. For me, it just didn't click. It's a very mixed bag and while not an enjoyable film it has some strong qualities that belong in a better movie. The acting, even from the child lead, is very strong and the film has one of the nastiest villains of the 21st century. It's an interesting idea and there are occasions where a mysterious power shakes itself to life. The death of Ofelia at the end is pretty shocking and some bits, such as when she first enters the labyrinth, are well done. The acting makes the movie, and it's difficult not to admire such a bold hybrid of 2 very different genres.
I don't get the hype about the visuals of the movie. The cinematography is very routine and bland. The dark lighting adds nothing to the movie. Del Toro's direction is average at best. The real world scenes are OK but nothing special. The fantasy part of the film feels half hearted and is very unimaginative. The tasks Ofelia has to complete are woefully unimaginative. It's just a war movie with a faun, a labyrinth, some fairies and a load of other creatures but it doesn't fulfil the promise of the premise as there's an uneven balance. Del Toro is clearly in love with his premise, and the way that he mixes the 2 elements and tries so hard to create contrast by throwing in a lot of brutal and pointless violence is very off putting. PL feels somewhat pretentious as a result and in general is just a bit boring. A weird, dark fantasy movie which isn't as bold or smart as it thinks it is and lacks true punch, although I'll give it a second viewing in future.
5/10