Movie Review -- Pan's Labriynth

One Word Review: Wow.

One Sentence Review: In the entire history of movie-making, this film sets a new high-water mark.

I really don't know where to begin. I thought "Children of Men" was good, but it was just a warm up.

The plot goes something like this: Mom remarries and moves out to the country-side to join her bastard of a husband to give birth to a son. Army Captain cruel & paranoid step-father is busily suppressing the remaining anti-fascist guerrillas. Pre-teen daughter of the previous marriage discovers a labyrinth, and this is where the fantastical starts weaving its way into the story.

OK, I'll explain it like this: I went to see this with my wife Cathie. About halfway through the movie I mentioned to her that the director, Guillermo Del Toro, had a collection of over 150 books of fairy tales from which he drew his themes and plot lines. She went "Oh, I didn't see that." Which surprised me, 'cause usually she's tuned into things like that. Afterwards, she told me that what she was getting out of it was cruelty of war. I keep wanting to go back to see what else I missed. My point? This movie works on so many levels, that you could go into it for years and get something out of it every time.

The technical support, acting, directing, and all the craft of cinematography disappears into the background as the story, the characters, and the emotion step out front & centre. It's a beautiful movie, a wonderful story, a penetrating morality tale, and a raw tragedy.

Go see it.

p.s. Don't take your kids unless you can afford to pay for their therapy. This is a movie for mature audiences, and not because of any gore or sex.