Pan’s Labyrinth. Most every review I read said it was great, an amazing “fairy tale for adults.” I was expecting something special.

In the end, all it turned out to be was a dark fairy tale – simple story, simple characters, violent. I’m still not clear on the moral of the story – Fascism is evil?

I was hoping for something deeper. I got a mediocre war movie crossed with a few ‘imagination of a little girl’ scenes, stereotypical characters, and cgi that needed some work (i.e., the toad). I did think the production design was great – the faun was simply amazing, and the eye/hand monster was nifty too. Acting was solid to excellent all the way around.

Overall it was a decent movie; I was disappointed, but I would say that it is worth consuming.