Dubbed an "adult fairy tale", Pan's Labyrinth is the best film of Guillermo del Toro's career. It's proof that when he returns to his native Mexico and directs non-mainstream efforts that he's one of the most creative directors around. It certainly showed with his debut feature Cronos as well as in the ghost story The Devil's Backbone. Del Toro just has an uncanny knack for mixing a compellingly told story, strong visuals, and emotion into a complete package.

Set in 1944 Spain during the Spanish Civil War, del Toro's tale has twelve-year-old Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) moving with her pregnant mother to a rural area in Northern Spain to be with her new husband Capitan Vidal (Sergi Lopez). As a high-ranking officer in the military, Vidal has been assigned the task of trying to locate and stop some rebels who are hiding in the surrounding woods. He's not the nicest of men and Ofelia only grudgingly puts up with him at her mother's request.

Along the way they stop due to her mother feeling sick and Ofelia finds a chunk of stone with an eye carved in it that fits into a nearby statue. Little realizing where this hunk of concrete will eventually take her, she places it into the statue and lets loose a locust looking insect that proceeds to follow her to the base camp.

Turns out the insect is a fairy that leads Ofelia deep within a nearby stone labyrinth where she meets the imposing, mythical creature of Pan (Doug Jones). The faun proceeds to tell her that she's really a princess in a far-off magical kingdom and in order to join her father, the king, she has to complete three tasks without straying from the rules as well as getting them done before the next full moon.

From there Ofelia sets forth on a journey to return to a world where she feels important and welcome, because she certainly doesn't feel that her new stepfather wants her around and always seems to be underfoot and forgotten. In fact, the only person who seems to want anything to do with her is Vidal's servant Carmen (Ariadna Gil).

Managing to combine well-staged fantasy sequences with the downbeat and gritty tale of Vidal's drive to eliminate the threat posed by the insurgents in the woods, del Toro weaves two vital levels to his script. On the one hand it's a fantastical journey filled with majestic creatures while on the other it's a serious examination of the Civil War and how it affected everyone's lives in the country. del Toro balances these things out so well, and does it in such an original way, that when the finale comes along you'll feel so strongly about almost every character that the final act really hits home (and has a twist that, while a tad expected, works).

Baquero does a fine job with Ofelia and gives one of the better performances from a young actor in recent memory. Lopez also does great in his role making Vidal a character you truly learn to despise - he's not a good man, he's prone to violence, and he's a selfish bastard. In fact the entire cast does well. On the visual side of things, del Toro gives his movie a storybook-ish sheen while the creature effects are truly a wonder to behold. A mix of make-up effects and CGI, the numerous beasts here just feel realistic and true, with the "Pale Man" monster (a white, sloppily skinned being who's eyes are in the palms of its hands) being both creepy and highly impressive.

Pan's Labyrinth is a breath of fresh air amongst a film terrain filled with retreads and remakes. It's not afraid to try something new and upon viewing it you wish that other filmmakers and film companies would have enough guts to take a gamble on something "different" from time-to-time. It's an excellent film, one of the best you're likely to see in theatres currently, and deserves to win the "Best Foreign Film" Academy Award it's nominated for - it's the kind of film that makes being a longtime movie fan worthwhile again. (Chris Hartley, 1/29/07)

Directed By: Guillermo del Toro.
Written By: Guillermo del Toro.

Starring: Ariadna Gil, Ivana Baquero, Sergi Lopez, Maribel Verdu.