Visually imaginative, but won't stand next to The Wizard of Oz in the future

Rating: Null/10 (29 September 2013)

Pan's Labyrinth has a staggering reputation with film critics and informed moviegoers. Many have titled it as the best film of 2006. I had never seen Pan's Labyrinth before this past week, while I cannot say I'm as enthusiastic about the film as most have been, I do recognize the art that went into making the film and the topics of war that are explored with the accurate grim. Violence is heavily stressed which grinds the audience into certain scenes the film more easily.
The main attraction with Pan's Labyrinth is obviously the visuals that are out of this world. Hued with blues and grays for the majority part of the film, the cinematography holds as much beauty and technique that you could find in a painting. The few scenes that contain bright-eye popping colors are made all the more pleasing when they are surrounded by the harsh shades around them. The cinematography glows in the usage of red colors and yellow/gold pallets when those scenes are called for, while they stand for escapism and change from the bloodshed.
Fantasy films that require otherworldly characters have been adapted into using computer generated effects or motion capture technology. Those advancements are impressive, but I've always found when an actor is complete in costume and fantasy make-up, a scene plays with more realism, rather than feeling like we are playing a video game. Pan's Labyrinth doesn't succumb to the new trends set by blockbuster action films, instead brings its fantasy characters to life through make-up prosthetics, which are done without a hitch.
The labyrinth set itself is like a setting we could find in a fairyland dream that we had, it's a beautifully recognized environment of the film. My problem with Pan's Labyrinth was that it didn't shock me into this world of fantasy right off the bat. I spent most of the movie trying to decipher if Ophelia's scenes with the Faun were reality, part of an adapted view world, or if was her imagination trying to find a sanctuary. It left me in the uninvested for half the film as scrabbled for symbolism that maybe just isn't there. Pan's Labyrinth shows war at face value and a child's struggle to adapt to that brutal environment.
Rating: 7
Grade: B+