I saw Pan's Labyrinth a little while ago (I actually wrote this a week ago). I like how they didn't change anything visually for the audience, including the title "El Labyrinto del Fauno", which literally translates into "The Labyrinth of [the] Faun". Where did Pan come from? There's no characters named Pan in the movie. I understand that Pan is a famous Faun, but it's not the name of the one in the movie.

To begin the review, I'd first like to say that the movie is really good. Also, it's absolutely in no way a children's movie. If you have small children, you probably don't want to take them to see it. They'll be traumatized. You know how most movies will have a horrific moment where the camera pans away a bit right before it happens so you don't see the graphic detail, but still you know it happened? This movie doesn't do that. They didn't leave anything to your imagination in that respect. I was actually quite impressed with the special effects in respect to this, particularly when *incoming non-plot spoiler that ends with the paragraph* the captain gets his cheek cut open, and he talks with his newly enlarged mouth. Then you get to watch as he sews it up.

*extra line for people trying to avoid the shocking non-plot spoiler above*

Some people have drawn comparisons between the movie and Chronicles of Narnia. Yes, they've both got major fantasy elements, and yes they both have child main characters that are in a bad living situation so they escape into the fantasy realm. However, aside from these minor similarities which both have with a great many stories (Wizard of fucking Oz anyone?), they are very different. For one, in the wardrobe movie, the kids escape their situation entirely only to enter into another one, and their situation was just that the housekeeper was a bitch. In Labyrinth, Ofelia spends the entire movie trying to escape her bad situation, but has to deal with it the entire time. Also, Ofelia's bad situation was really, really bad. It's not quite Anne Frank bad, but it's up there. Also, wardrobe was almost entirely fantasy, while the fantasy elements of Labyrinth seemed to make take a much smaller role. Then there's the whole "the plot is entirely different" aspect, which people seem to ignore.

I guess the movie's been advertised as a fairy tale for adults, but I'm not sure I would call it a fairy tale. Fairy tales usually aren't deeply rooted in World War II and actual historical civil unrest. I don't know of too many fairy tales that have shoot-outs in the woods. Also, the entire fantasy plotline seemed secondary to the military plotline. I'm not complaining, of course. It's just good to know what you're going to get out of the movie.

The final verdict is that you should go see the movie. I guess I should've gotten this review out while it was still playing in a lot of theaters, as it's currently playing at a much more limited selection of theaters. If there's one near you showing it, go out and see it before you have to wait for the DVD.