by pcwells » Apr 10th, '07, 19:09
I just watched Pan's labrynth.
I find Guillermo del Toro an interesting film maker, because his English-language Hollywood movies are always average at best, while his more modestly-budgeted Spanish-language efforts tend to be jawdroppingly awesome.
Compare Cronos and the Devil's Backbone to Blade II and HellBoy, and you'll see what I mean.
Anyway, Pan's Labrynth is a Spanish language movie, so I thought it was worth my time.
And it's absolutely flippin' fantastic. Even better than the Devil's Backbone, and heaven knows how much I love that movie. It's stunning, terrifying, beautiful, dramatic and moving. Even without the special effects it would be a first-rate drama. It reminds me a lot of Heavenly Creatures in that respect, but its social commentary is a little less insular and much more outward-looking.
More than any other movie I've seen, Pan's Labrynth stands up well as a contender to La Belle et La Bete as one of the most perfect fantasy movies ever.
I kinda liked it a bit.