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Pan’s Labyrinth is a journey back into the fairy-tale world of myths and legends, and beasts and monsters that we all knew as children. With exquisitely executed special effects and makeup, it was incredibly believable and detailed. As clear as the storyline was, however, there was still room for personal interpretation, a refreshing and welcome change of pace from movies that practically instruct the audience in what to think.
The movie has subtitles, but no one should let that stop them from seeing it. After a few minutes, I forgot I was really reading them, and I didn’t miss any of the stunning visual aspects of the movie because I had to read the dialogue. I did, however, wonder how much of Guillermo del Toro’s story was lost in translation.

Release Date: September 1, 2006
This Film Is Not Yet Rated, is at its heart, a documentary.
That’s a powerful statement, right there. And you’d better pay attention to it, if you use movie reviews to decide what you’ll spend your hard-earned money on. What you may have heard about the movie, and indeed, it’s generated a lot of buzz, is that a private investigator gets hired to get a sneak peek into the MPAA rating system.
Well, that almost makes it sound like a plot, with intrigue and action. Unfortunately for hyped-up viewers, it’s a documentary. Instead of excitement, the movie generated only vague feelings of surprise and disappointment in the rating system. Perhaps if I were a filmmaker I’d be far more outraged.
The film opened my eyes to a good deal of injustice that’s involved in the movie rating system. A group of people whose names are not released to the public rate a film completely arbitrarily. There are general guidelines governing the use of profanity and amount of sexual material, but it is entirely subject to the opinion of “the board.” I was enthusiastic about the plan to expose these anonymous, secretpeople, going into it. The movie carefully builds up the MPAA and the 7 major Hollywood studios, emphasizing what media giants they are.
After all that, who wouldn’t want the little guy to win? Rooting for the underdog is the sole source of enthusiasm for This Film Is Not Yet Rated. We [...]