Lush, lurid, and very, very beautiful

Rating: 9/10 (19 June 2007)

I simply cannot rave enough about this film. Thank you, del Toro, for bringing us such a multi-layered, beautiful story set like a fire opal against the stark matrix of civil warfare. An instant dark fairy-tale classic for a complex modern world; villains whose motives we comprehend, yet cannot condone, classic nythic formulae served up ice-cold, just as the brother's Grimm would have it, and startlingly inventive visual effects to enhance and enlarge the film's fantastic characters. And all of this balancing on a razor's edge of reality. I'm still trying to think up ways to use it in my English honors class. I set this one right up there with 'Cite des enfants perdues" and -- creative story-telling and visual imagery some of the best I've ever seen. Quite simply, 'Pan's Labyrinth Kudos and more kudos for this highly original work! In many ways, the film itself is a labyrinth: a new surprise around every odd bend.