Dark, violent and sad (fantasy?) tale, that is not flawless but the ending will leave you thinking for at least a while...

Rating: 8/10 (1 April 2010)

Pan's Labyrinth is a movie, that starts out like Alice in Wonderland. But during the war. And with the scenes happening in the real world, too. Including the sadistic captain, stepfather to plot's main character - Ofelia. The movie can be described by many words, but there are a few that definitely fit to it perfectly. It's not a masterpiece. I don't think so, there were flaws in the screenplay, in the direction, too, but here one might argue. It has lots of strange, weird scenes as fantasy is involved. It's dark and shockingly and brutally violent. It's getting more and more complex as the plot goes on, adding new subplots and leading, finally, to a great finale.
The ending is something that changes a grade for this movie from 6 for making, meaning sets, makeup, special effects, pictures, acting which is all flawless to solid 8, for a great, beautiful and extremely sad, symbolical tale with lots of lessons to learn and things to think about after the watch.
It's one of those movies, that you know how they say, you'll either love it or hate it? well, maybe not that extreme here, I would say, but its one of those movies that you won't just stand by it not moved by it at all. The ending completes the story, adding it a much better, more complex outlook creating a dark, violent and sad tale that will leave you thinking for at least a while.