The most magical story you will ever behold

Rating: 8/10 (28 February 2019)

Combine Harry Potter, The Lord of The Rings, Inglourious Basterds and you end up here. A most magical story set in post civil-war Spain, a little girl stumbles upon a faun in a labyrinth and discovers she is a long lost princess of an ancient mythical kingdom. She struggles to complete the quests given by the faun, as her step dad continuously battles his enemies, in this wonderful story told in Spanish.
This is for sure director Guillermo del Toro's best ever film, and also one of the greatest stories told in the 21st century. There are many great stories indeed, but nothing quite as spectacular as this one. The creatures are very original and fable-like and creatively decorated. They can bring sheer terror as well as enchant anyone watching. It's in these moments del Toro is lucky to have his go to man, Doug Jones, that make for brilliant and mythic performances.
The movie feels like a classic already the first time you're watching it. It has that energy of an old fairy tale, that is truly captivating and spellbinding. This is a movie that endures due to its extraordinary story telling, but some things feel a bit unmotivated. For example, why did Ofelia have to eat that grape, when the faun specifically told her not to. Yes, they looked delicious to be sure, but still, she wasn't suffering from amnesia. But perhaps that is the magic behind stories like this one, that things doesn't need to be motivated, they just happen and we go along with it.
The acting in this movie isn't breathtaking either, but neither is it bad. It is simply not the priority here. The best performance comes out of the faun, both the body movements and the voice acting, making it really come alive and feel so magical that it could have been a tree bewitched by Harry Potter himself.
It is not to say that other parts of this movie is bad, I just believe it is not as good as it could have been. But hadn't the focus been so fixed on the story, perhaps we wouldn't have got the wonderful piece that we have. The story is what it excels in, being one of the best story telling movies of all time.
Should I say it again? The story in this movie is out of this world and just absolutely wonderful and brilliant and classy, that you'd wish it was a trilogy. But something should stay untouched, and simply take its place in history as the most remarkable story of this century.