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Created Mar 04, 2008 11:29AM PST • Edited Mar 04, 2008 11:31AM PST

1. Quality

2. Summary

   Perfect 5.0

   Guillermo Del toro’s official masterwork, “The Pan’s Labyrinth” is a showcase of imagination that make me feel particularly jealous, thinking that I could never come up with anything close to the majesty of this film. From the opening frame, this film leave you breathless and wanting more, bringing unprecedented beauty and wonder to a fantasy film that hasn’t been viewed since The Lord of the Rings concluded all of those years ago. This is filmmaking at its finest and it stands as one of the greatest films of 2006.

4. Acting

   Perfect 5.0

   The acting in this film is superb in nearly every way, starting with the young star of the film herself, Ivana Baquero (Ofelia), who has amazing range and a purely wondrous quality to her young face. she will be a star to look out for in the years to follow, as she does an incredible job with Del toro’s film. Doug Jones, playing two of the more complicated roles to play in this film, covers The Pale Man (the man with eyes in his hands, my personal choice for centerpiece of weird for this film) and Pan (aka Fauno), donning much makeup and being covered in visual effects from head to toe in now way deters his performance and should open up even more doors for him as a tremendous character actor. the other characters seem to keep the story perfectly focused and and nuanced, even in the face of the fantastic. Srgi Lopex, Maribel Verdu, et al. do a wonderful job in making this film what it is.

5. Male Stars Perfect 5.0

   The male role worth mentioning is Doug Jones. Though unrecognizeable for the length of the film due to being cloaked in prosthetics and makeup for its duration, he brings forth two terrific performances out of the characters of Pan and The Pale Man. The characters may have stemmed from the “imagination of Guillermo Del toro” (as per the advertisements) but it is the performances of Doug Jones that makes the characters what they are…which is to say, fully to life.

6. Female Stars Perfect 5.0

   Ivana Baquero is another child actor who seems years ahead of her time, a la Christian Bale, Elijah Wood, Kirsten Dunst and Dakota Fanning before her (although hopefully not as pretentious and somewhat annoying as Dakota Fanning can be in some of her roles). the role of Ofelia is a tough one to accomplish, requiring many layers of humanism to stem from a young actor…yet she does it so well you’d almost swear she wasn’t acting at times. this is the performance of a lifetime for her and hopefully there are many more from her to come, as she is the kind of actor I enjoy seeing on screen.

7. Female Costars Perfect 5.0

8. Male Costars Perfect 5.0

10. Film

    Perfect 5.0

    From the bottom to the top, this movie is one of the more well made films in a long time. Guillermo Del Toro proves himself to be one of the greatest working directors today with this film, as is his top notch writing, but he is not the only one to congratulate with this, as his cinematography is astounding, the acting is incredible, the makeup is fantastic, the visual elements are outstanding…this movie has it all (except for English dubbing but that’d ruin the mood) and I cannot get enough of watching it…it truly is a feast for the senses, especially the eyes.

11. Direction Perfect 5.0

    Like stated above, Del Toro proves himself with this film. He has a strong horror background and loves to utilize the macabre in his directing style, and it cannot be better done than in a movie that transcends the lines of drama, horror, and fantasy so well that people have trouble categorizing it on occasion. The movie movies at the pace needed, not to sharply paced or edited, but not so slow that the audience grows tired. He deserves every accolade he has received for this film.

12. Play Perfect 5.0

    The dialogue may be the toughest to rate, being that the Spanish language is quite different from the English language but I for one think this to be a tremendous script, one that settles you in from the beginning and involves every beat, pause, and movement in perfect resonance with the movie. you never feel left out of any equation of the principle story nor any part of the subplots surrounding it either. this film is a case of simply good storytelling.

13. Music Perfect 5.0

    the musical score by Javier Navarrete is a sweeping yet understated score, which is greatly required from a movie that can be both large and small at the same time. Often times with the score to a film it can be too much or too little, but this musical score becomes part of the story as a greater whole, providing the viewer with yet more of ambiance with which to be sucked into the story. My congratulations to Javier Navarrete…and I hope I continue to hear more in the years to come.

14. Visuals Perfect 5.0

    This movie is a visual treat from start to finish. Although not very much of the movie takes place in the actual Labyrinth of Pan, once entering the realm you find yourself in a lush world all of its own, completely sucking you in upon entry and constantly leaving you breathless and amazed. That is not to say that the visuals of the real world are without merit, as it reveals a real world in a time that many may not know about yet allows to experience as if part of our knowledge already.

15. Content

16. Edge

    Sordid 3.0

    This movie isn’t necessarily about “edge” per se, but it does involve moment of real life trauma and doubt. This is not the kind of fantasy movie to let children see when they are really young, it is more the kind of film to allow them to experience once a little older…some of the themse are a bit too much for young children. There is little to know actual sex in the film of course, because it is about a child and her “imaginary world of escape”. The film does, however, take place during the Spanish Civil War and so there are some scenes of violence that may be a little much in small moments.

17. Sex Erotic 3.0

18. Violence Brutal 3.0

19. Rudeness Profane 3.0

21. Reality

    Fantasy 4.8

    Yes, this is considered a fantasy film, but is full of real life circumstance as well, which lowers the rating some. The Labyrinth itself is a wonder to behold ina world that belongs squarely in the imagination, yet the real world elements are very real. I found the real world elements of the film to be very realistic in its portrayal and the fantasy elements to be pure wonder. There are moment that transcend reality to become fantasy, but that is the case with any movie and some liberties should be allowed in order to advance the movie. this is a fantasy movie after all, if disbelief can’t be suspended at least a little bit, then you may be viewing the wrong movie.

22. Circumstantial Fantasy 4.8

23. Biological Fantasy 4.8

24. Physical Fantasy 4.8