A greatly executed fantasy and a decently executed drama.

Rating: 9/10 (15 October 2018)

Pan Labyrinth, directed by Guillermo del Toro was a story set in Spain in the 1940's that displayed two story lines. The first one being a fascist group during the civil war located in the woods to keep out the rebels. The second one being an 11 year old girl by the name of Ofelia, who is trapped in her own fairytale land. Ofelia's mother, Carmen, is a widow who remarries Capitan Vidal, a murdering sadist. Alongside of the Capitan, a woman named Mercedes was his main maid, who proved to be a powerful, resilient woman behind closed doors. These three prominent female characters are what make the film complete the circle.
Pan's Labyrinth is a film directed by Guillermo del Toro that takes place in the 1940's in Spain. This film is a drama, fantasy, war genre-based film that was published in 2006. This film is about an adventurous, young girl by the name of Ofelia that was sent with her pregnant mother to meet her new step-father, the captain of the Spanish army. During her stay, she comes upon a fairy who has essentially "chosen" her and leads her to a garden in the center of the labyrinth. She is acquainted with a faun who tells her that she is from royal descent and in order to reach her kingdom, she must complete 3 tasks. She spends her time throughout the film completing each terrifying task in order to reach the end of her destiny. Within this time, a ghastly chain of events takes place involving the captain, her mother and Mercedes.
Pan's Labyrinth portrayed an effective fantasy by creating blue filters and bright yellow filters when she would travel off to her fairytale land. The fairies and detailed monsters create an artistic approach, leading the audience to be further intrigued into this fairytale land. However, the drama aspect of this film is not effective. There are some scenes that could have used further details to expand on the present moment. Also, a selected amount of scenes were quickly ran through and not enough time was placed on the drama taking place in that specific scene. The intended audience meant for this film is someone between the ages of 13-18. Although, this is a fairytale and fairy tales are usually meant for a younger audience, the monster-like characters in this film are way too scary for young children. There are also disturbing scenes in this film that involve: amputation, death and brutality that is not advisable for young children. An example of the effectiveness of a fantasy land, is when she goes to the garden to meet with the faun. Everything is detailed and has a mystical feel to the scenes. Compared to the lack of effectiveness on the drama scenes, for example when Mercedes was caught helping the rebels, it was a short-lived scene in my opinion. There could have been more emphasis placed, since this movie was revolved around the Spanish in the civil war. Maribel Verdu was remarkable in her performance. Everything she felt, I felt. On the other hand, "Ofelia", Ivana Baquero being one of the main actresses of the movie was an exceptional character. The pace of the film is enhanced with the editing and camera shots. They did a great job with close ups and focusing on weird details.
I rate this movie a 7.5 on a scale 1-10. Although, Pan's Labyrinth was a good movie, it was not the best movie I have ever seen. I would also be very careful about bringing your children with you depending on how old they are due to the little amount of graphic scenery in this film. Overall, it was an enjoyable film; however, I would not waste time on watching it again.