Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)

Director: Guillermo del Toro

Cast: Sergi López, Maribel Verdú, Ivana Baquero, Doug Jones

Have I Seen it Before: Never! Which has been a source of some exasperation in my house over the years. I’m not against subtitles in a film, but I just never seem to be in the mood to have to read a film. Likely a symptom of most often being distracted by other devices whenever I take in a film. Now, I’m jonesing for a bit of subtitles, and it is time to ride that wave straight through the labyrinth.

Did I Like It: Yes, and there was never any reason to doubt that was where I was going to land on the film. del Toro doesn’t know how to make a bad film. I’ve always enjoyed whatever trip he wanted to take us down. Those trips are always surprising, and not just visually.

On spec, I thought this film was going to be far weirder, ultimately more labyrinthine. That’s what I get for trusting a title like some kind of chump. There are visual flourishes of great, slightly mad fantasy aplenty, and while some of those images became iconic after the fact, there are still plenty more that will keep the uninitiated on their toes. Much of the CGI ages poorly in the extreme, especially the tiny fairy that first introduces Ofelia (Baquero) to the notion that the world might be far stranger than it initially may have seemed. Is it even worth noting CGI from 15 years ago doesn’t hold up? The moment the render is complete, any computer-animated element starts aging like a new car. That’s a minor complaint, especially when many of the costumes and makeup worn by Doug Jones are truly mesmerizing.

But that’s not even what the film is about! It’s about a scared young girl living in an objectively scary situation, and the monsters are about the only thing that will help her, regardless of whether they’re real or not. 

Pacific Rim (2013)

Director: Guillermo del Toro

Cast: Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Rinko Kikuchi, Charlie Day

Have I Seen it Before: Oh, sure.

Did I Like It: I’m writing this review shortly after my post about <Cloverfield (2008)>, which I wasn’t very kind to.

I like this movie more, if for no other reason than it is just about the only big budget adventure film of the last decade that wasn’t based on some other property. I’m supposed to be thrilled when films aren’t based on board games, but this film actually creates a whole new world that feels lived in, not terribly removed from our own, and unique enough to not feel like every other film in the genre. The monsters of Pacific Rim are not the spindly Lovecraftian horrors of Cloverfield, or even the lumbering suited men of the Godzilla series. Instead, while wild, they do seem to have intelligence. They certainly have a plan and an agenda, which might undercut the terror one might feel, but I think only amplifies their ruthless threat.

Far more importantly, the film is not unrelentingly bleak.

That is to say, it is not totally devoid of bleakness. The film depicts the calamitous turning point in humanity’s fight with kaiju taking place in 2020, which kinda sorta figures. The world careens closer and closer to outright annihilation over the ensuing half a decade. The heroes band together, seal the breach, and win the day. While the world is still devastated from years of unrelenting onslaught, there is the hope that a new day is just around the corner.

But then there’s a sequel, which was bland, inoffensive, and a real let down from the highs displayed here. I’m not sure why Hollywood doesn’t just let del Toro do whatever the hell he wants at any given moment, but that doesn’t feel like it will change any time soon. That should have been the lesson from this film. Not more of the same. More of del Toro.