Visually stunning but lacks coherence

Rating: 6/10 (14 December 2006)

I wish I could say I liked this film more than I did, since it certainly has some impressive aspects to it. Undeniably it is visually stunning, particularly the fantasy sequences, which feature some marvellously weird and imaginative fairy tale beasts. The acting is also excellent.
Yet I just didn't feel the two story strands - the real world civil war drama and the fairy tale fantasy - gelled together in a meaningful way. I'm not sure if the fantasy aspect was supposed to be some kind of allegorical comment on fascism, but if it was it was too obscure for me to appreciate. Instead it just seemed to sit uneasily alongside the often brutal events unfolding in the real world sequences.
Altogether it had the feeling of a film that thought itself more profound than it actually was. Although it carried me along well enough while I was watching it, after it finished the impression I was left with was of a mildly diverting, but ultimately inconsequential piece of film-making.