A Beautiful Film that must be seen!

Rating: 10/10 (22 January 2007)

I am not going to write a lengthy review. Needless to say I agree with 90% of the positive reviews I have read on this site. This is a fantastic film, a pure vision of del Toro's passion for the story. Del Toro again makes a film intended solely for us, the viewers, to enjoy and admire. If more directors shared this same philosophy, there would not be nearly as many cookie cutter and plain awful movies churned out for the Hollywood bean counters year after year.
I mainly am writing this review in response to the negative reviews on this site I purposely read. I found that in all the negative reviews, there was one common factor, all the people who hated the movie were people who had no idea what they were going to see. it's time to educate everyone:
1. This movie is not a kids movie. Do not bring them. Leave them home with a babysitter.
2. This movie is not all a fairy tale. It is set in fascist Spain after the Spanish Civil War, not completely in a magical world of make believe.
3. This movie is violent. If you are offended by blood and realistic, non cartoony violence, stay home with the kids and babysitter.
4. Don't go see this movie just because you are trying to keep up with the Joneses. Watch the full trailer, visit the website, read this review and others. EDUCATE yourself before blindly going into this or any other movie then leaving upset because it was not what you thought it was.
The bottom line is, this is a beautiful film that you must see if you enjoy seeing directors put all their passion into a film. If you are tired of typical, tired, paint by numbers Hollywood films(I'm looking at you Shymalan, Soderbergh) then run out and see this movie!