So yesterday before bed I watched the movie “Pan’s Labyrinth.” I’d heard good things about it, and about Guillermo Del Toro (the writer/director). So over the weekend I bought the DVD, hoping to watch it over the holiday. I didn’t get around to it until yesterday.
I knew vaguely what the movie was about, but I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from it.
And oh wow. Instantly one of my favorite films, this movie delivers on so many levels. The story is good, the pacing is spot on, the soundtrack, the effects, the storytelling. There were a couple of parts where the tension seemed a little too forced, and the antagonist was a bit too sadistic to be real, but even that was pulled off well.
The movie is extremely violent in parts, so if that bothers you, don’t watch this movie. The language was about par for a movie these days, for whatever that’s worth. But in the gritty context of the movie’s world, both the violence and the language are almost necessary.
I definitely recommend this movie, though obviously not for kids, even though it’s sort-of centered around a fairy tale.
Go buy the DVD. Now.
And it should go without saying, but I’m saying it anyway: Watch it in the original Spanish with English subtitles. Dubbing ruins a film.
Seriously.
