Guillermo Del Toro's - Pan's Labyrinth

Guillermo Del Toro, Other movies include: Cronos, Mimic, The Devil's Backbone, Blade II, Hellboy

Brief Summary: from www.imdb.com "'Pan's Labyrinth' is the story of a young girl that travels with her pregnant mother to live with her mother's new husband in a rural area up North in Spain, 1944. After Franco´s victory. The girl lives in an imaginary world of her own creation and faces the real world with much chagrin. Post-war Fascist repression is at its height in rural Spain and the girl must come to terms with that through a fable of her own."

My Review:
Let me start out by saying that I had never heard of this film until a few weeks ago. It's poster was up on various sidewalk construction sites and was scarcely on the theaters walls. I originally thought this to be a children's movie and paid little attention to the few posters. This weekend I was browsing the movies in theaters and noticed Pan's Labyrinth had an R rating. I read the summary and was immediately sucked in. I decided to go see it @ 9:55PM Monday night @ the Sunshine Landmark Theater. ( a popular venue for indie, foreign films which is always littered with all sorts of characters). Like a good little New Yorker I showed for the flic 45 minutes early thinking I would have plenty of time to get a drink and have a good seat. The place was jammed with one horrible line. No drink but I was able to get a decent seat.

I am not going to really say anything about the movie because I feel you should go into with a fresh clean mind. The film was very original and thought provoking. It flows wonderfully and you barely notice the time fly. I was extremely pleased to see Sergi Lopez play the role of the BRUTAL captain as he dominated the screen and became, in my opinion, one of the best villains in movie history. Yes it was that good. I was first introduced to Sergi Lopez when he played the peculiar "Harry" in Dominik Moll's "With a Friend Like Harry". In both roles he was able to convince me of the pure insanity that dwelled throughout his ominous being. His unpropitious demeanor shocked me and I found myself wanting to know more about this horrible character. He stole the show.

Pan's Labyrinth is classified anywhere from a Drama/Fantasy/ Horror/Thriller/War genre which, to me, indicates its density and uniqueness. I entered the theater wanting to see a Tim Burtonesque underworld of friendly monsters and treacherous ghouls. I did not expect to be sucked into the plot too much and figured my money would be well spent with some "eye candy". I was completely surprised to find an extremely good film.

I give this film 5 out of 5 Stars.

RottenTomatoes.com had a 99% red tomato, which is usually a good source of honest (sometimes over the top honest) criticism.

If you see this movie I would love for you to give me your thoughts.