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Pan's Labyrinth
This is a really hard movie to rate. Its a spanish language film about a girl, Ofelia, who dreams up a fantasy while coping with living at the front of the Spanish civil war with her step father, who is El Capitan. Ofelia meets a faun who tells her that she is an immortal princess, but that she must complete 3 tasks to prove that she is pure enough to join her kingdom.
At first, you don't really buy it. The CG isn't as seamless as it can be by today's standards and the acting by the faun is on par with spanish soap operas. Then, something happens between the first and second tasks and it just clicks. You get sucked into the movie and the CG is no longer an issue.
There are 2 subplots running concurrently with the main plot, which means that there is not one wasted scene in the whole movie. Its got highly graphic gore that will make anyone cringe, along with some great acting by the main actors.
I cant give this movie a number. At the end, I couldn't bring myself to say, "What a great movie," even though I certainly was pleased. It was worth the high price of admission, though. There's certainly a lot of bang for your buck.
The critics call it an "Adult Fairy Tale" and I can agree with that. However, its not a date movie unless your partner loves violence and gore (like mine!).
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