Pan's Labyrinth (8 out of 10)

Pan's Labyrinth, by acclaimed director Guillermo Del Toro, is a Spanish film set during the Spanish Civil War. Ofelia, a young girl, and her mother are moving to a villa in the forest to stay with her mother's new husband, Captain Vidal, an officer of the Fascist army. The Fascists are battling the Resistance in these very woods. Ofelia finds out she is the reborn princess of a king and must complete three tasks in order to be taken back to her kingdom.

If that sounds like a lot, it's because it is. For the first half of the movie, a number of different plotlines are threaded together, and it feels garbled. You can easily tell what each thread has to do with one another, but there is no real cohesion. Rather, it feels TOO epic. You are seeing the lives of about a dozen different characters and it can become overwhelming. One thing you need to realize is that this movie is not what the preview makes it look like. It's not 100 percent "adult fairy tale". That makes up a small fraction of this film. In fact, it is more a war drama than adult fairy tale. But the reason I start with this is that I just wanted to get out of the way the reason I didn't absolutely adore this movie like so many others have. For the first half, there was just so much going on and I was having trouble getting adjusted to any single thread.

Eventually, things start coming together, and while the pace quickens and the plot thickens, it became a lot easier to become absorbed into the movie. On a technical and artistic level, this movie is beautiful. The colors are dream-like, and the design of the entire film is amazing. The fantasy portions are in a league of their own, I don't think I can name anything that has the beauty and originality displayed here. There is a bit of gore, so if the presence of the fantasy element makes you think it is childish, think again. It's definitely deserving of it's R rating.

In the end, I really ended up liking this movie a lot. It is as well told a story as they come, and it is at once happy and unbelievably tragic. The ending gave me chills for days after. All of the characters are thought out and interesting. The protagonists and antagonists are so well drawn and convincing in their roles, adding to an already impressive wartime landscape.