So I see the trailer, I see the cool looking monster-type people, and I hear the hype from the Oscars and the critics. They all sound and look pretty cool. Finally, a fantasy movie that doesn't need a prophecy of a farm boy in a middle age-like time and great evil is upon the land. I also hear Guillermo del Toro is a great Italian director.That's all I really looked into the movie before I rented it and settled in for a nice modern fantasy movie. Ya know, I really should have learned my lesson from the American trailer of "28 Days Later". AMERICAN TRAILERS OF FOREIGN FILMS LIE!
So the story takes place in the fascist led Spain. Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) and her pregnant mother Mercedes (Maribel Verdu') go and live with Mercedes new husband, an evil army captain, Vidal (Sergi Lo'pez). Ofelia is obsessed with fairy tales and she meets a few mythic creatures who tell her she's a princess who must do three trails to prove who she is so she can go and rejoin her father in the heavens. Doug Jones (Silver Surfer) is the only name I know from this film as well; he plays two of the creatures.
That's the part of the movie I only really cared about. However, the other half of the movie is a group of rebel Spaniards trying to take out the army captain and how evil Vidal is. I'm really lost in this movie.
I do have to admit that the visuals are awesome. The fawn and especially the Pale Man are freaky as heck and look so real. But can someone tell me what kind of movie this is? I feel like I'm the rope in a tug-of-war. Is it a war movie or is it a fantasy movie? Is the girl delusional or is this stuff actually happening? Who is the main character; the girl or the captain? Why can't I just have a modern fantasy movie?
Grade - C
Because of the duality that this movie has, I can't really see a plot in it. There is no overall theme, there is no lesson learned, there are no heroes or heroines. The most I got out of this movie was never trust giant fawns you meet in the forest and never get knocked up by an evil Italian army captain.
I know people like this movie. I know it was Oscar nominated and won three of them. I know people have a reason for liking this movie. I just feel that they like it because they have to.
