First, I should amend my initial statement; “bad” or “good” are too ambiguous of terms to sum up my feelings about this film. When the credits began to role, I felt that a bad movie was ending, but a few days later, I can only say that the movie made me feel angry and sad. Generally, this is not what I want when I go looking for entertainment. But, the movie definitely made me feel something – it certainly wasn’t boring or trite.

In part, my expectations were set incorrectly – I was expecting to watch a fantasy movie. The main plot is indeed full of fantasy, well-concieved, well-written, and beautifully executed. However, while the setting of most fantasy films is merely a backdrop, the setting of Pan’s Labyrinth (the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, and the efforts of the victors to quell remaining rebels) gets a lot of screentime, and is thoroughly entwined with the main plot. The result feels to me like two movies have been mashed together. While this seems an interesting concept, it doesn’t work for me. To exacerbate things further, I dislike the rebels, who are the intended protagonists of this subplot. While they don’t commit the atrocities of the fascists, these rebels make a concious, onscreen choice to continue a hopeless fight, propogating the cycle of killing and suffering, rather than “crossing the border” and leaving a lost war behind.

There are characters in this story who I deeply like (the doctor). There’s some great eye candy, though it sometimes seems a consolation for sitting through sequences set in the mundane world. There are single shots that speak volumes (pile of shoes). There are examples of superb and subtle storytelling (pocket watch). There are some pretty feeble storytelling moments, too (grapes). In the end, though, there’s not much escapism, and that’s what I was looking for.