The one complaint I could think of against “Pans Labyrinth “is that it would be tagged “From the director of Hellboy and Blade 2” which is total injustice to the movie being compared with such mediocre
films.
Our film opens with a momentary shot of a bleeding Ofelia (Ivana Baquero), as the frames are introduced in reverse. We are told that it is the time of the Spanish Civil War. Ofelia and her heavily pregnant mother Carmen (Ariadna Gil) arrive at a nationalist military base in the woods and introduced to her stepfather, a vicious commanding officer, Capitan Vidal (Sergi Lopez) a fascist captain and a vicious
sadist tasked with flushing out the remaining guerillas from the forests of Northern Spain
Uncomfortable with her new surroundings, suspicious of her stepfather and desperately concerned about the worsening condition of her mother, Ofelia uncovers a strange alternative world as she runs into a magical fairy who leads her to a mystical labyrinth, where she meets a mysterious faun, Pan (Doug
Jones), who tells her that she is the long-lost princess of an
underground kingdom, and that she must complete three dangerous tasks
to return to her throne.
The story becomes more intense and the movie shifts back and forth , between the labyrinth, where Ofelia has to
retrieve a golden key from a giant toad and face the Pale Man - a
creature that has plucked out its eyes and can only see by placing them
on its hands. And the real world where Vidal dogged pursuit of the
Communist forces is hampered by a rebellious but motherly housekeeper
Mercedes (by Maribel Verdú, the sexy older woman from "Y tu mama
también”) as it boils down to a cinematically brilliant climax which
leads to a debatable ending.
Do not be fooled. This is a
movie about children, but not for children. Brilliantly directed,
masterfully set up, and visually jaw dropping The acting is top-notch,
and young Ivana Baquero has a huge and brilliant future ahead of her
(imagine Dakota Fanning, only better and less annoying) and Sergi Lopez
looks like the reincarnation of Ralph Fiennes in "Schindler’s List".
The animation is phenomenal, but not nearly as breathtaking as the
costumes or scenery. The labyrinth itself just sucks all the breath out
of you when you see it at night for the first time.
A dark,
brutal fairytale, chillingly set in the real world but full of hope and
warmth, Pan’s Labyrinth accomplishes a masterpiece, Pity it lost out on
the “Best Picture” nominee , To me this would have won hands down (not
having seen “Letters of Iwo Jima”).This is last year’s best fantasy
film. And it seems it will remain that way maybe till “300” releases