Movies #29 Pan's Labyrinth

Pan’s Labyrinth I had high hopes for this film. I really did. So I’m sad to report that it was something of a disappointment. Don’t get me wrong, this fantasy tale set in Franco’s Spain is an imaginative, well crafted film. It’s just it fell short of what I wanted it to be. Telling the story of Ofelia, a young girl who escapes the pain of her daily existence with nightly excursions into a magical netherworld populated by child eating monsters and giant toads, Pan’s Labyrinth really shines, for me at least, when Guillermo Del Toro’s imagination is working overtime. He’s got a brilliant mind and the fantastic scenes in this film are brilliantly conceived and executed. The problem is, there aren’t enough of them. The majority of the film tells the story of Ofelia’s depressed, pregnant mother, her facist stepfather, a captain in Franco’s military, and the local rebels he’s determined to take out. It’s all really well done- well acted and affecting. It’s just the other stuff- the fantastic, is so incredible I felt cheated by everything else.

For what it’s worth, I’m pretty sure I would like this film even better upon a second viewing since my expectations would be more in line with reality.