Pan's labyrinth: beautiful , moving, magical

Rating: 10/10 (15 March 2014)

Pan's labyrinth is a fairytale, set against the backdrop of a civil war and it straddles those two story lines incredibly well. When dealing with such seemingly incompatible themes, it avoids striking any discordant chords, not by making the war part of it palatable, but rather by making the fairytale darker, and this works remarkably well. The movie does not waste even a frame, and feels almost as tight as "Infernal affairs".
I loved Del Torro's aesthetic for this fantasy world and especially his creatures. In this day of CGI overuse, it is gratifying to see such a minimalistic world, and this makes the story feel much more personal and, to me at least, the fantasy much more believable. That, along with superb performances from all the cast, especially Ivana Baquero as the lead, has made this film my all time favorite fantasy movie.