Pan's Labyrinth Movie Review

The Fairy Tale That Isn’t

                Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth is not the typical kind of fantasy movie. Gone are the complicated and lengthy plots like in the ever-popular Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings series, or the stunning and grandiose visual effects of Avatar. What this movie provides is a simple, yet unique piece of literature that despite its simpleness, still provides the many elements of fantasy. Pan’s Labyrinth features a surprising performance by the cast, which, along with the exquisite directing from del Toro, definitely categorizes this movie as a “diamond in the rough” among the more famous movies of its genre.

                Set in 1944 fascist Spain, this movie is about a little girl named Ofelia (Ivana Baquero), who travels with her pregnant mother to live with her new stepfather. Ofelia soon finds out that his stepfather, Captain Vidal (Sergi Lopez), is the strict and ruthless leader of the Spanish Army. It seems like he doesn’t even care for her or her mother, but only for the baby soon to be born for him to carry Captain Vidal’s name. Ofelia tries to disregard this through reading her books and just let her imagination take her mind off her life. One day, her imagination comes to life as she discovers a fairy on the day of her arrival at her new home, which takes her to a faun. The faun tells her that she is a princess of underground world and that she must complete three daunting tasks to prove it. These tasks, along with adjusting to her new, difficult life with her stepfather, take Ofelia to an adventure she cannot possibly ignore.

                The star of this brilliant film is none other than Ivana Baquero, who plays the main character, Ofelia. Not many child actresses can duplicate what Baquero showed in this film. She perfectly characterized Ofelia’s curiosity and stubbornness that her role in the movie needed to be. Ofelia’s belief of a fairy-tale world was evident in Baquero’s acting. Another notable performance in this film was Sergi Lopez’s. Lopez’s character was the designated antagonist. From the very start of the film, his stern and merciless personality showed through. His character was not very likable and conceivably it was Lopez’s fantastic performance that made his character give a bad connotation. It was del Toro’s directing that made the cast’s performance memorable. He did a fantastic job on this movie. The plot was fast-moving, but did not damage its effectiveness of grabbing the viewer’s attention. The fairy tale elements of the plot naturally fit into the otherwise historical fiction aspects of it. Del Toro combined these elements to make an outstanding movie.

                The visual and auditory effects of this film greatly contributed to what del Toro wanted to convey to his viewers. The contrast of the lighter and darker scenes set the mood, which was very important in the movie. The lighter background in the scene where Ofelia stood in front of his mother and father in their rightful throne smiling down on her, was much different than when Ofelia was being chased by an injured and bloody Captain Vidal through the labyrinth which had a very dark background. It was this kind of visual imagery that conveyed the varying moods of the film. The music used was also a significant in the expression of the mood. The scenes in Captain Vidal’s room where he was always shaving always had music that almost signified a marching type of song for an army. This gave the character a dictatorial side of him that is obvious along with his actions and personality. The special effects in this film did a satisfactory job based on it its purpose of helping set the mood.

                A poet named Oscar Wilde, once said, “The truth is rarely pure and never simple.” This is evident in this film. What seems to be a simple fantasy story has hidden, dark meanings that can be missed. Combining fantasy and historical fiction, del Toro hides themes consisting of escape and hopelessness. Ofelia uses her imagination to get away from her strict stepfather through her fairy tales. By creating a fantasy world, she is able to hide from the harsh truth of life and just live as a kid in an unwelcoming new home. This movie definitely deserves a rating of four out of five magical fairies.

Pan's Labyrinth Plot Summary

Set in 1944 fascist Spain, this movie is about a little girl named Ofelia, who travels with her pregnant mother to live with her new stepfather. Ofelia soon finds out that his stepfather, Captain Vidal, is the strict and ruthless leader of the Spanish Army. It seems like he doesn’t even care for her or her mother, but only for the baby soon to be born for him to carry Captain Vidal’s name. Ofelia tries to disregard this through reading her books and just let her imagination take her mind off her life. One day, her imagination comes to life as she discovers a fairy on the day of her arrival at her new home, which takes her to a faun. The faun tells her that she is a princess of underground world and that she must complete three daunting tasks to prove it. These tasks, along with adjusting to her new, difficult life with her stepfather, take Ofelia to an adventure she cannot possibly ignore.

Top Dozen Movie List - Revised

12.  The Day After Tomorrow – The concept of the world ending is always very popular in science fiction films and this film is no exception. The Day After Tomorrow touches upon global warming as the culprit of the world being destroyed. The “natural” disasters shown in this movie looked very realistic and made me wonder if this could all be possible someday.

11. Predator – This is one of the best movies Arnold Schwarzenegger has ever done. In all his movies, it is always a mystery how Arnold is the only one that survives. Nonetheless, Predator is very entertaining to watch as Dutch, Arnold’s character, once again, is the lone survivor on his team of Commandos as he seeks revenge against the Predator.

10. Terminator 2: Judgment Day – Along with Predator, this is one of the only Arnold Schwarzenegger movies that I like. His character and the infamous line, “I’ll be back!” is timeless. This movie series gave Schwarzenegger the signature role of his acting career. The movie is about a cyborg who comes back from the future to destroy an army before he was even created.

9. Jurassic Park – When I was a kid, I was obsessed with dinosaurs. Jurassic Park and The Land Before Time were certainly the most watched videos in my dad’s VCR back then. The visual effects were amazing as it gave me an actual program to watch where dinosaurs actually look real and intimidating, and eat people. The plot is about an experimental island full of dinosaurs that somehow go out of control, endangering the lives of the humans in the island. Although the dinosaurs in this movie aren’t as nice, this movie beats The Land Before Time any day of the week.

8. I Am Legend – Will Smith’s acting in this movie was remarkable. The whole story involves a man, who seems to be the last person on Earth, trapped with creatures in New York City, that have zombie and vampire characteristics. He tries to survive, all the while trying to find a cure for the zombies to make them human again. What fascinated me most about this movie was the relationship of Will Smith’s character and his dog. Both these characters develop a strong relationship throughout the movie because of their loneliness. It absolutely broke my heart when the dog died.

7. Transformers – The battle between the Autobots and the Decepticons never gets old. Optimus Prime and the Autobots are in the fight of their lives to protect their own and the human race. Watching old re-runs of the TV series with my brother was a good childhood memory of mine. I think the main reason people watch this movie is the cool special effects, especially the fight scenes between the Transformers…and of course Megan Fox.

6. Minority Report – Tom Cruise plays an officer, named John Anderton, involved a pre-crime program that predicts all crimes before they’re committed. The movie gets very intense once John Anderton is accused of a crime. The plot of this movie was very exciting and provided much action and drama, which is always a very good thing.

5. The Butterfly Effect – Going back in time to fix the “bad” things in your life would surely be very convenient. This movie provides just that as a guy named Evan Treborn who has had a terrible childhood, finds a way to relive bad moments that has happened in his life, like when his psychotic father attacks him when they meet for the first time, through his journals. Evan soon finds out that fixing these moments alters the present in a big way. A suicide by his friend leads him to a chase for the “perfect” life through these “blackouts”. This movie fascinated me from start to finish. The intense moments that Evan had to go through makes his character very likable and throughout the movie, I found myself rooting for him to have the “perfect” life he wanted.

4. Iron Man – Besides Christopher Nolan’s Batman series, this is probably my favorite “superhero” movie. In some ways, the two superheroes are very similar in that both Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark are very rich and design a “costume” of sorts to fight off villains. The idea of not having actual “superpowers”, like Superman, is very appealing to me. Tony Stark uses his wealth and knowledge to build a suit of armor powered with many weapons to help protect the world.

3. Inception – This movie is one of the best movies I’ve seen recently. It probably has one of the most complex plots ever put into a movie. I remember my first time seeing this; I was overcome with bewilderment and excitement all at the same time. The process of going into a dream within a dream….within a dream, within a dream is an appealing concept. The plot is very original and I was hooked on it right away.

2. Back to the Future: Part I and II – Marty McFly is in for the greatest adventure of his life when he meets Doc Brown, and his time machine. When my brother told me to watch the first movie of this series, I was a little skeptical. Realizing as how good these movies were, that was probably the best advice my brother has ever given me. Unlike the first two movies, I thought the third movie in this series, although still very appealing, was not as good. I guess something in me just says that cowboys should never be in a science fiction movie.

1. The Dark Knight – This movie is one of the best movies I’ve ever seen. Batman, a.k.a. Bruce Wayne, struggles with his identity as he juggles his responsibilities as a superhero and just being a normal person. I was literally on the edge of my seat for the better parts of the movie. The cast’s performance, the plot, and the special effects were just absolutely perfect. It’s a shame Heath Ledger died right after this movie was made; his performance made me into an instant fan. His performance definitely puts this movie over the top.

Using Dialogue in Characterization

Serena: Cree? Cree, is that you?

Cree: Oh, hey Serena. It’s been a while.

Serena: It’s been two or three years at least. I think the last time we talked was The Washburns’ Christmas party, and they’ve been divorced for two years by now.

Cree: You’re probably right, but I doubt it was a few years ago. You look like you’ve haven’t aged a day.

Serena: Ohhh, Stop it. You don’t look too bad yourself. How are the kids?

Cree: They’re doing very well. Sonny is playing soccer, and Faith is in high school now.

Serena: Oh my gosh! They are growing up so fast. I can’t believe Faith is almost in college; it seemed just yesterday that she was only a baby.

Cree: I know, right. She’s having a little trouble though, adjusting to the high school life.

Serena: Oh, she’ll come around. She has your confidence.

Cree: You’re too kind. Thank you. How are William and the kids?

Serena: William has been busy, you know, being a doctor and all. The kids are doing fine. We just returned home from our trip from France.

Cree: No way! Ted and I have always wanted to go there, but we’ve never had the money.

Serena: You two should totally go, Meredith and Kristin had a blast and made a bunch of new friends.

Cree: I wonder if Faith would like it. She doesn’t really like long trips though.

Serena: I’m sure she would. France is the city of love and all.

Cree: I know. What places did you guys visit?

Serena: Well obviously the Eiffel Tower, The Catacombs, and the Louvre. But we also visited little shops and even went to some of the beaches.

Cree: No way! Did you guys bring back any souvenirs?

Serena: Actually we did. The kids wanted a lot of things, and of course I bought them what they wanted.

Cree: So what were they? What did you get the kids?

Serena: Both of them wanted jewelry, Meredith more than Kristen, she being in high school wanted to impress the guys.

Cree: (Laugh). Oh that Meredith. What about Kristen?

Serena: Kristen got a charm bracelet along with a silver tiara.

Cree: That’s so adorable.

Serena: Ya, she wants to be a pretty princess for Halloween.

Cree: Did William enjoy the trip?

Serena: Unfortunately, William had to work and couldn’t make it.

Cree:  That’s too bad.

Serena: I just wish we could’ve gone as a whole family though.

Cree: How come he had work?

Serena: William had to stay because there was an emergency at work. A staph epidemic broke out in the hospital, and he had to treat everyone.  

Cree: Oh, that’s too bad, Ted is pretty busy as well, and besides work he also coaches Sonnys’ soccer team.

Serena: That’s so nice of Ted. How good is the team doing?

Cree: Record-wise not so good, but they are all having a fun time. That’s all that matters.

Serena: If only the girls got into sports. They were always so into fashion.

Cree: Sonny really enjoys soccer, and Ted just goes along to support his him in his decisions.

Serena: That’s nice, I wish William would come home earlier and spend some time with the kids. (cries) They don’t even recognize him when, he comes home.

Cree: Come here, honey. It will be ok. Talk to me! How can I help?

Serena: I tried to talk to him about it, but he just won’t listen.

Cree: Then maybe you should make him listen. Set some ground rules. Tell him he needs to spend some time with his children.

Serena: Do you really think that would work?

Cree: Well sure it would. He has to realize that his family always takes priority over work.

Serena: I know it does, but he makes it sound like his work is more important than anything in the world.

Cree: I got a plan. Listen up.

Serena: I’m all ears.

Cree: Okay, so next Friday you are going to take the day off. And you and I are going to have a ladies’ night. You are going to convince William to watch the kids for you. Maybe suggest that he take them to a movie.

Serena: That’s a great idea. I’ll make sure I mention it to him tonight.

Cree: Awesome, and you’ll also be able to kill two birds with one stone. You can relax while William spends some much needed time with the girls.

Serena: I can’t believe I hadn’t thought of this before. Cree, you’re a life saver.

Cree: Thanks, I’m only trying to help.

Serena: So where should we go on Friday?

Cree: I think first we should visit the spa and salon and get prepped up, then hit the clubs for some drinks and a fun night out on the city.

Serena: I haven’t been able to do that in years.

Cree: It will be amazing, and since this is all for you, I’ll even volunteer to be the designated driver for the night.

Serena: Don’t even bother sweetie, let’s just get a cab, and enjoy the night.

Cree: Alright but the fare and tab is on me.

Serena: You don’t have to do that.

Cree: I insist.

Serena: Okay, if you say so, I have to go now and pick up the kids from the mall. It was nice seeing you Cree.

Cree: Alright 5:00 on Friday, see you then.

The Ghost in the Cap'n Brown House - Open Response

In this story, Harriet Beecher Stowe touches upon the believabilty of fantastic stories. In most "ghost" stories, the credibility of the character that has seen this supernatural creature is received in two different ways: people believeing that character and other people who do not believe anything he says. This is no different in the "The Ghost in the Cap'n Brown House". In the story, Sam, the storyteller of the ghost "sighting" reasons that, "You look at the folks that's allus tellin' you what they don't believe-they don't believe this, and they don't believe that-and what sort o' folks is they? Why, like yer Aunt Lois, sort o' stringy and dry. There ain't no 'sorbtion got out o' not believin' nothin'." His main point is that whenever someone says that they don't believe in supernatural elements, that person cannnot be fully taken as correct. Sam is shown to be on the fence with believing the ghost is actually real or not. Later on in the story, two people, Cinthy Pendleton and Aunt Sally Dickinson, who have seen the "ghost", tell two different tales of their experiences. Cinthy claims that she saw a ghost in her bedroom, "white as a sheet" and having "black eyes." Meanwhile, Aunt Sally contradicts by saying that while looking out her window, she sees a real, live woman come out of the Brown house. Sam clarifies that both women are people that can be trusted and have the same background saying that Cinthy is a "good pious gal" and that Aunt Sally is a "good woman and a church-member". The main point that Stowe is expressing about believability in this story is that there are so many different accounts of seeing an actual ghost. Different people have different takes on what they see with their eyes. The credibilty of a ghost story will always be in question because of the many different view points of the "sighting" by all the characters in the story. This is a compelling concept that is a good middle ground of the conflict of believing a ghost stroy. Stowe recognizes this and expresses this effectively in the story.

Nothing In The Dark Open Response

The episode, Nothing In The Dark, of The Twilight series is a perfect example of the Dark Fantasy subgenre because it has many elements that portrayed the genre so well. These elements can vary from horror, fear and a supernatural element. One of these elements is fear, and this episode clearly showed it well. The old woman, named Wanda Dunn, shuts herself from the outside world. Whenever someone knocks on her door, she is always afraid that it would be Mr. Death. Wanda is so fearful that even when an injured policeman knocks on her door, she is reluctant to let him in reasoning that Mr. Death changes appearance to trick her. This feeling/mood of fear and horror sets this to be a dark fantasy story. Another element is the supernatural aspect of this story. After finally letting the policeman in and the contractor leaves telling her that her house is going to be demolished, she realizes that the policeman is indeed Mr. Death. Mr. Death tells her to look in the mirror to see his reflection. When she looks, the bed where the policeman was lying is empty. She accuses him of lying, but the policeman convinces her that he only did it so she would trust him and that dying is not so bad. The policeman then tells Wanda to touch his hand, and before she knew it she was looking at her own dead body on the bed beside her. Every dark fantasy story has a supernatural element to it and this story certainly had it. This story definitely fits the dark fantasy subgenre because of its fear, horror, and supernatural elements.

Setting - An Unpopulated Desert Island

I woke up without opening my eyes, not wanting to wake up. The warmth of the white-hot sand that was underneath me provided a comfortable, cozy feeling for my body. The sound of the crashing waves against the rocks nearby soothed me into a calm, relaxed mood. With no hope of falling back asleep, I finally opened my eyes to reveal the horrible sight before me. My night's sleep is my only escape from all the destruction. Ever since the plane crash, I've been stuck at this deserted island for about 3 days. Debris from the plane and the ghastly stench of dead bodies was all around me as I stood up. I was the only survivor. The fact that no one lives at this island only made life so much worse. Finding food was very difficult. I searched everywhere from the crevices of the rocks along the beach, to the shallow waters looking for fish, but had no luck. The one place I haven't searched was the forest. One look at the outskirts of the beach leading into the deep, dark forest already frightened me. The canopies of the gigantic trees created a shadow over what looked like the beach. On the first day, I gathered up the courage to try to hunt for food, but backed out when I heard a thunderous growl from what sounded like a lion. I don't know how I'm going to survive any longer.

My SciFi Blog Introduction

I think in this class we will be exploring many aspects of Science Fiction. We will be discussing the many pieces of literature that are categorized in that genre. In this blog, I think I will be posting about the same topics realting to Science Fiction whether it be about a book, movie, or anything cool that has to do about Sci Fi.