Never a dull moment

Rating: 7/10 (19 January 2007)

The beauty of this film, other than the magnificent make-up and art design, is it's linear stories. Each of them could be told separately and be just as entertaining, but the way we are pulled back and forth from reality and Ofelia's dream world only enriches the story that much more. The film is two hours long, but it seems to go by much faster since you are always involved in the action. At times this film reminded me of an epic anime of sorts, like something from Hayao Miyazaki, a master of fusing beauty and destruction, love and hate. When I first heard of the level of "R ratedness" in this film, I was expecting gratuitous blood slinging, but that just wasn't the case. The gore (which isn't too terrible when compared to many films out there) is appropriate, and only adds to the power of the film. It's gonna be hard for Guillermo del Toro to top this one.