A Beautiful, Grotesque, and Thrilling Film From Guillermo Del Toro

Rating: Null/10 (14 February 2007)

(This Review Contains No Spoilers) Ofelia and her mother, Carmen, are moving into the middle of a war-ravages Spain. Carmen, recently married to a sadistic Captain Vidal, is mistreated by her husband and worries for her daughter. Ofelia soon finds a magical world full of horrifyingly beautiful creatures to escape her reality. Here, though, she has control over her destiny. She meets Pan the Faun, played by Doug Jones, who charges her to undertake a journey throughout this weird, beautiful world. She meets many a strange creature, including the Pale Man (also played by Jones). Meanwhile, Captain Vidal (Sergi Lopez) tortures prisoners and continually mistreats Carmen.
When this was premiered at Cannes, it received a much-deserved twenty-two minutes of applause. This film has been universally praised as Guillermo Del Toro's masterpiece, and rightfully so. It's eerie, violent, captivating, and thrilling. It's an adult fairytale with some real scares to be had--not just from the wonderfully disturbing creatures in Ofelia's world, but from the horribly sadistic Captain Vidal. A more menacing on-screen villain you will not find easily.
The performances in the film are wonderful, particularly from Sergi Lopez who radiates so much menace that it is truly frightening at times. Ivana Baquero, playing Ofelia, performs perfectly in her role. Ofelia is scared, yet brave at times. She has a destiny that she can control in her magical world. Ariadna Gil who plays Carmen gives the role a perfect amount of fright and gullibility, amplifying the menace from Lopez. Doug Jones makes me wonder how incredibly difficult it must've been to make this--communicating in a language you do not know, making sure that you know your opposite acting partner's lines, and being placed in a costume with no eye cut-outs. That sounds like so much fun. But, he makes it work. Wonderfully.
The soundtrack is mystical and tear-inducing at times. It adds so much to the atmosphere of the movie that it's not even funny. The cinematography is beautiful and dark and perfect for a fantasy-movie. Much like Lord of the Rings, it utilizes big camera moves in small, personal stages, yet not overdoing it.
Lastly, but not least, would be Guillermo Del Toro. A more visually twisted and creative man you might not find. Thank God that cab driver found him and returned his notebook. Otherwise, there might be no Pan's Labrynth.
The violence in the film is graphic and the creatures are scary. It is amazingly memorable and I suggest you not take your young ones to see this--it's for grown-ups. Still, it's very much worth it.
Normally I would assign a score but you can't score this movie. No score would do it justice.