Del Toro's Boring Sadism Too Much!

Rating: 2/10 (22 January 2007)

Yes, as the other respondents note in the comments section below, there is a very violent image in the film, one of many such images that seem unmotivated and unnecessary. I don't mind violence at all. But this movie really disappointed me. It was also a slow, boring, and relentlessly upsetting experience to sit through, and people in the cinema where I saw it were upset to be sure. What worries me is that we are meant to celebrate moments of violence in the film. After seeing innocent people hurt and hurt and hurt again, the violence then turns toward the villains in the third act. But I was disturbed by this lesson! Teaching sadistic revenge, as the film does, is not responsible. And the tragic ending just made it all pointless, without a payoff. This is one of the most inaccurately marketed and over-hyped films in years. In the months to come, I think people will begin to see through it, and call 'shananigans' on this weak film.