Well, I don't know what to say about this movie that FantasyLover hasn't already mentioned. I just finished watching it, and it is easily one of the best movies I have ever seen in my life.
I expected this was going to be good, but I was completely surprised on a different number of levels.
First, the story was brilliant. We basically had two movies in one, as has been mentioned; the historical war/drama half, and the fantasy half. The two stories intertwined beautifully, and neither was a bore. I was just as anxious to see what would happen next in the '
real' world as I was in Ofelia's world of magic.
The visuals of this movie were stunning. The Faun was so well done it felt like I got to know him throughout the film. At times I grew to trust him, but at other times I was suspicious of him. He was really well done, and I loved his voice.
The Pale Man is easily one of the creepiest things I've seen in a long time. It wasn't because of what he did with the fairies, but just his overall appearance, mannerisms, and how he held his hands to see. I think that creature was a bit disturbing; beautiful creativity and imagination.
The special effects were flawless. FL mentions the on-screen showing of someone stitching his own face up - amazing. There was A LOT of violence and disturbing scenes in this movie, but that made it all the better to me. This is why I love movies like Watership Down, but thought it's recent sequels were crap. Today's movies in the fantasy genre are to PC and protected kid friendly. That takes away the quality of the movies, in my opinion. Pan's Labyrinth didn't hold anything back, and it only added to the quality of the film.
I think Dillson called the Captain a bastard or something along those lines, lol. I couldn't agree more. I find it interesting that in a Fantasy movie the most evil character was human. It could be said the Toad or the Pale Man were evil, but I think they were just products of their nature - while that could also be true for the Captain, I believe he had more of a conscious effort in his evil deeds.
But as I said, Pan's Labyrinth is easily one of the best movies I have ever seen, and I highly recommend it!