abeburnett Reviews

Barbie (I) (2023)

Great for the ladies, but Kens stay away

[4/10 · 21 July 2023]

Oppression is a state of mind, even when objectively you are oppressed.

The biggest problem with this movie is that it leans HARD into both the feminist fantasy of oppression by MEN (as if we're some sort of ruling cabal who coordinates to keep all women subjugated-talk about intellectually lazy) AND the only acceptable man is an Allen (wimpy effeminate man). This movie could've provided a compelling argument for unifying the sexes, or how men and women complement each other, but NO. Instead in the final act, it chooses sides. And the side is comes down squarely on is the antagonist side, the "equity" side. The side of "well, do unto others as you FEEL (in your hyper-oppressed feeling state) they've done unto you." You feel like the Kens have done you wrong, so you oppress them in return. Never mind the Barbies oppressed the Kens for the entire time before the time period of the movie, and the entirety of the first act. But no, the Kens get out of line for the second act so they must pay. Equity demands retribution, so all men, excuse me, Kens, must pay.

While I laughed and enjoyed the first two acts, in the end I felt thoroughly disappointed, angry, nauseated. If they had finished the movie as brilliantly as it began it would've been a 10/10, but they couldn't resist making it propaganda. I guess the joke's on me for taking our girls to it.

Also, there's a monologue in the third act which could've been BRILLIANT, if the writers had been enlightened enough to recognize that that is how ALL HUMANS feel (not just women, men too). Every man I've ever known has feel the weight of crushing expectations from society, from women, from other men. It's not just a woman thing.

Oh and then the last 5-10 minutes or so were... almost like a different movie. It just didn't line up with who Barbie was, and what this movie was about for that particular ending to occur.

In the end, THIS KEN (me) cannot recommend this film to other Kens. Unless you're the kind of liberal / progressive man who believes the whole "women are oppressed" narrative. Then you'll probably love it. Every other guy though? Or the women who love them? I'd recommend taking a pass on this one. Or watch the first 75% and then leave.

Bottom line this is every bit as "toxic" as some forms of masculinity. This is just "toxic feminism." And I say that as a feminist.

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

You've never seen anything like this (and no woke!)

[10/10 · 11 July 2023]

Tom Cruise does it again. I've never been on edge of my seat for so long in one movie. Well, except for the last Tom Cruise movie I suppose. On top of being a phenomenal action movie there isn't even a WHIFF of wokeness in this masterpiece. It's just good old fashioned moviemaking at its finest. I'd even go so far as to say this is THE BEST Mission Impossible since the first one (which I loved). In this MI the supporting characters play far more substantial roles, which was really enjoyable (in past films they sometimes felt like props). But this film just did a much better job with humor and tension and making us care about ALL the characters. Even the villains were more interesting and sympathetic than usual. The beginning was a little slow (almost like they felt like they really needed to talk slow so the audience would be adequately up-to-speed before going pedal to the metal, but once it got going...omg. What a ride. And it was very funny too. Loved it from beginning to end. Well done to the whole cast and crew! 10/10.

Nine Lives (I) (2016)

Me and my family loved this

[9/10 · 4 March 2023]

Okay, so it's not exactly breaking new ground here, but it executes its premise very well. Our kids (11, 8, 6) and we adults were all frequently giggling and laughing and on the edges of our seats. Sure, maybe we're easy to please, but I really don't understand this movie getting a 5.3 on IMDB. It's waaaaay better than that. We loved the casting, the direction, the production values, the writing, the cinematography, and (of course) the cat. The CG was somewhat obvious, mostly because they had the cat do things cats can't actually do. But that didn't bother any of us. This is just pure escapist fare at its best, and family friendly to boot. So if you've got young kids like we do, and it's family movie night, you could do far worse than this little gem.

Enola Holmes 2 (2022)

Much better than the first, a great movie in its own right

[8/10 · 10 November 2022]

I appreciated watching a modern movie which managed to simply be smart and entertaining, with a minimum of wokeness.

On the downside, it turns out that wokeness makes mysteries really predictable: if you want to guess who the real villain is, just apply your knowledge of how woke casting and writing works. Wokeness just makes it all so predictable. Plus, making John Watson a minority? Puhlease. His backstory has always been that he's a decorated British military doctor who served in the army in India. It feels like a stretch to make him...what? Indian? Pakistani?

But I do appreciate that we actually had likeable hero characters, both female and male who were actually WHITE! *gasp* Which is only remarkable because these days most white male roles have been decreed by the woke folks to be, by necessity, villains, imbeciles, jokers, fops, and the like. So to actually have Sherlock by male and white and smart and likeable. Amazing. But don't get too comfortable. I would not be at all surprised if they decided that this Sherlock is actually gay. I WILL be surprised if they leave both Sherlock and Enola as smart, straight, white characters.

In any case, other than the minor quibbles above (the highly guessable nature of the actual villain and the casting of John Watson) the movie was fantastic. Millie carries this movie with ease and a great deal of buoyant energy and charisma. She's a joy to watch. Superman is awesome, as always, too. Directing was superb, as was production values, and writing, and set/costume design. Editing was tremendous. Well done to all the cast and crew!

Blockbuster (2022)

Really wanted to like this

[3/10 · 9 November 2022]

I couldn't even finish the first episode. It was well cast, and had a lot going for it, but after the second gender/pronouns reference within ten minutes I felt to nauseated to continue. I don't watch TV to be lectured at. I don't watch TV to get a dose of wokeism and gender politics. I watch it for escapism and fun and to distract me from my own life. For some laughs, maybe. But all this LGBTQ stuff these days is really ruining TV for me and my family. Hopefully one of these days development executives will pull their heads from their butts and start making quality TV without the agenda again.

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022)

What a mess

[5/10 · 2 June 2022]

While the Fantastic Beasts series has never quite measured up to Harry Potter, the first two were acceptably entertaining in their own right. This film was an embarrassment. It felt muddy, lost, flat, and ultimately pointless. Good grief. It felt like it wanted to be a heist movie, but couldn't figure out how. So many characters with so little to do. Even the visuals were hit and miss. Sometimes they were jaw dropping, other times they looked like poor quality CGI.

Oh, well.. hopefully they do better next time.

Bad Education (2012–2024)

Virtually perfect comedy

[10/10 · 30 November 2020]

I don't think I've laughed this hard, this consistently, pretty much ever. It is a TV show which wrestles with tricky subject matter in the funniest possible ways. Plus it's so controversial most of the time I personally cannot imagine American TV ever making this comedic delight. It's absolutely tremendously genius and wonderful. I loved everything about it: casting, writing, directing, acting, production. Across the board it is both believable and utterly hilarious. The finale is only the second time in my life that TV has brought me to tears (the other time was the finale of every season of The Good Place). It was the perfect surprisingly profound ending to this delightful and wicked (seems like something Stephen would say) comedy tour de Force.

Frozen II (2019)

Meh. Some amazing potential executed poorly

[6/10 · 30 November 2019]

Frozen 2 had so much going for it: great characters, amazing musical talent, outstanding effects and animation, some solid concepts, and...it failed to deliver. Some musical numbers proceeded events which seemed to provide the necessary context and motivation for the song; others followed events but seemed insufficiently related to or motivated by the events. Lots of interesting ideas and scenes which didn't flow or transition well. Ultimately it felt like a movie which was shipped incomplete and unfinished.

Always Be My Maybe (2019)

Waaaay better than the usual Netflix Original

[9/10 · 25 June 2019]

This was a fantastic romantic comedy: intelligent, genuinely funny (almost choked on my drink more than a few times), heart warming, with genuine chemistry and situations between the leads. I felt like this was one of the few recent movies (or TV shows) which avoided being overtly political and just had real characters with real desires and conflicts trying to find their happy ending. Well done to the producers, director, writer, actors, and all the crew. Truly fabulous work, y'all. I loved the leads and Keanu (HILARIOUS, buddy). Absolutely zero complaints about this one. Loved it!

Charmed (2018–2022)

First episode is condescending, offensive, and overloaded with politically correct propoganda

[3/10 · 24 June 2019]

Don't waste your time on this show. The first ten minutes of the first episode is one PC statement or scenario after another. It's just condescending and insulting that the writers felt they needed to pack in moralistic statements about race and class and feminism. It's not entertaining, and it's condescending because we hear this crap from _everywhere_ these days. The last thing I want from a TV show is to feel like I'm being talked down or told what to think. Grrrrrr. Hard pass, Netflix.

When We First Met (2018)

Fantastic RomCom!

[9/10 · 31 March 2018]

I just finished watching this, and I was in tears for the last ten minutes of the film. This film was way better than it had any right to be. The writing on it was nearly perfect, the casting impeccable, the direction pitch-perfect, the production values outstanding. This was one of the best romcoms I've seen in a long long while. Authentic, touching, funny... absolutely perfect. I loved this film. It took Groundhogs Day's premise and improved on it. The central character shows true insight, and selflessness, _and_ he gets the girl of his dreams. Sure it's clear that they're meant to be together from the get go, but it was handled in a realistic way. It's rare that I watch a movie and have little to nothing to complain about, but this one one such case. Kudos to the writer for crafting such an impeccably told tale. Well done!

Beauty and the Beast (I) (2017)

Terrible

[3/10 · 1 October 2017]

I don't even know where to begin... My wife and I just watched this and were appalled. Somehow they managed to suck all the magic out of this classic. We hated pretty much everything about this movie: the new songs, the changes to the original lyrics, most of the CGI, most of the casting, the direction, the script (which tried to fix what wasn't broken)... Everything. The Gaston in this version is a lightweight compared to the terrifyingly sadistic version in the original. This one is just inconsistently written, self- absorbed, and a bit bipolar, but not really scary. The story line about her Mom was a total waste and unnecessary; the village was way too idyllic; the pacing uneven; and there were too many what the heck moments. The whole film didn't really flow at all, and was incredibly disjointed. One of the worst movies we've ever seen, and we typically like or love Disney movies. Oh and the use of auto-tune in this film totally ruined the singing and grated on our nerves. Plus the lip syncing was blatantly obvious, which is really bad for a musical. All in all, this represents a case study in how not to adapt source material.

War Machine (2017)

Another stinker from Netflix

[4/10 · 27 May 2017]

Man, what the heck are you doing, Netflix? I was willing to dismiss Handsome as a inevitable outlier--a lone turkey--but to follow up Handsome with this? It had so much going for it, but the script and pacing sucked. The overall premise sucked. I was super excited for this, based on the trailers, but what I saw was an enormous flop. It reeked of vanity project--and political grandstanding. As if the only point here was to beat us over the head, for two hours, with how pointless counter-insurgency tactics are. Okay, message received, but at the cost of the Netflix reputation.

It seemed, other than a meandering script, that the biggest problem with this film is its perspective: that of a Rolling Stone reporter (who doesn't enter the film, officially, beyond the capacity as a narrator, until the mid-way mark). It's littered with awkward and inconsistent narration by this narrator who only serves to remind us of how dumb Glen, and his counter- insurgency tactics, were. It's patronizing, and not at all humorous. In fact, I felt mostly just bad for Glen for much of the movie. He seemed like an underdog, a guy who genuinely wants to do the "right thing" but is just a little delusional. He's not a bad guy, just a disconnected one.

This film would've been far more successful if it had been a present-tense story, where we see things, not from the doomed memoir perspective, but from the perfect plan (well, not so perfect, as we see) unraveling perspective. If it had been played more from the Dumb and Dumber angle, where you can be in on the joke, rather than from a moralizing perspective. Yes, it's about war, and how absurd it seems modern war is when nation building is being attempted, but let the viewer draw their own conclusions--don't tell us how to think and feel about things. A truly intelligent approach to this same story would be to actually execute on the premise of a comedic war movie which is comedic because it's ridiculous. Period. And do so in a tight, well executed, non-moralistic way. Yes, the audience still would've come away realizing how counter-productive all these "anti- insurgency" efforts are, and they would've been entertained at the same time. Otherwise, you might've just made a (much cheaper) documentary. Granted, Netflix probably wouldn't have funded it to the same tune, and they probably wouldn't have rolled out the red carpet for its release.

But at this rate, I no longer believe that the Netflix brand, especially in self-produced movies, is an indicator of quality. Instead the Netflix brand in movies is becoming synonymous with disappointing movies. They're great at marketing them (the trailers are, without exception, engaging and have driven me to watch Handsome, and now, War Machine), but they're doing a really poor job making an actual decent movie. I'm not even asking for a "great" movie, I'd settle for a merely "good" movie.

This is just a travesty. It hurts watching Brad Pitt and many other great actors, meandering through this pompous, boring vanity piece. It had superb cinematography, and a good sound track, but that was about it. I guess the dialogue was pretty good, even though the overall script sucked (in terms of approach to the story, story arc, pacing, humor, etc).

It's a sad day when I have to push myself to even get to the 50% mark, and then start skipping ahead five minutes at a time just so I can get a sense for how it ends. And let me tell you, the ending? Zero humor. Great moral grandstanding, but zero entertainment value. See, the thing which is brilliant about most modern American media, is how it weaves left-wing values into entertaining content. There are a great many shows whose politics I don't agree with, but which I still enjoy and find entertaining. But this War Machine effort from Netflix is just ham handed, sloppy, and a waste of time. But that's just my feeling on it.

War Machine fails to either be an entertaining dramatic war movie, and it fails (with very rare) exception at comedy as well. At this point I seriously doubt I will trust Netflix's marketing of any future self-produced movies. As the saying goes, fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on you. And there will not be a third time. I just feel offended and insulted and tricked. I trusted the Netflix brand, I trusted their marketing (trailers), and they let me down.

Handsome: A Netflix Mystery Movie (2017)

Garbage

[2/10 · 5 May 2017]

How to review a movie this bad while not cursing? I'll do my best. It was the worst movie I've seen since Rollerball. Almost completely devoid of humor, dumb (and not dumbly funny either), boring, and a complete waste of time. I finished it just because it was so bad I kept waiting to see anything which validated Netflix's decision to make it. It couldn't have been the script (all over the place with only the weakest of narratives to sustain it); it couldn't have been the acting (ranged from dreadful to only okay); it couldn't have been the ham handed direction... In fact, the only decent part of this streaming pile was the cinematography. I don't understand how Netflix can make such great TV, and then produce a turd like this. The lesson for Netflix is to be involved in the creative aspect of creating films, and, in the event a film turns out this bad, don't release it and Sully your brand. Or at least release it quietly and under some other brand than that of Netflix. This is truly a cringe worthy film, and I highly recommend skipping it. I've already lost 80 minutes of my life to it so that you don't have to, too. What a gigantic waste.

Warcraft (2016)

Awesome!

[9/10 · 9 June 2016]

I was so excited to see this movie--and also afraid of having my hopes dashed. There have been so many poorly made fantasy movies made in the past (I'm looking at you The Seventh Son) and I was afraid this one would be no different.

But Warcraft is everything I hoped it would be: huge, epic, magical, wondrous... This isn't Lord of the Rings, in many ways it's better. LOTR was so focused on being epic that it felt overly long winded. Granted, I suppose that's due to the source material too, but Warcraft manages to cram a lot into it's under two hour run time. Yes, it has lots of magic; yes, it has lots of action; yes, it is a total escape into a world very different from our own. But somehow, even while the film is packed to the gills with the fantastic, it still manages to stay grounded in characters we care about.

I was totally riveted for the entire duration of this fantastic film, and I can't wait for the sequel.

I'll admit that I was nervous about seeing this film after hearing all the negative press it's receiving, so I'm happy to report that while some critics may not like this movie, I sure did and I highly recommend it!

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012)

Wow

[10/10 · 19 August 2015]

Wow...just...wow. This film is profoundly affecting. It's not at all really funny, per se, but wow is it powerful. I'm not really sure why this gets so poorly reviewed here because I loved it. It's bizarre and weird and totally phenomenal. In the end it rocked my world in a way very few films ever had. I personally liked that they left faith and religion out of it because it helped the film stay grounded and avoid getting sidelined into religious controversy. If they'd brought religion into it it would've undermined the story they set out to tell and turned out into something else entirely. The beautiful thing about leaving religion entirely out made the story perfectly inclusive. If that makes any sense. Kiera Knightly was astonishingly good in this. Absolutely luminescent. Steve Carrell was also quite good, as were all the supporting roles. From top to bottom this film was spectacular. I highly recommend it.

The Interview (II) (2014)

Transformative

[10/10 · 24 December 2014]

As others have pointed out, this isn't a perfect film. It isn't satire or parody, it is something else--a deeper film lodged in the core of a crude over-the-top comedy. You'll laugh a bit, be entertained throughout, and surprisingly...think.

After I finished watching it, I found myself thinking that films like this that poke at monsters under the bed are important. We need films like this which aren't afraid to go after the big fish and skewer them. We could argue that we need films like this even more than we need the more serious fare which no one watches.

I don't know for certain, but I suspect that a film like this, if seen by enough North Koreans, could upset the status quo there. Regardless of whether North Korea is behind the Sony hack or not, they have good reason to fear movies like this.

So overall, a good film (as a comedy I'd probably give it a C+ or B), but as a statement of our freedom of speech it's priceless. I'm glad to see Sony supporting a film like this which is so politically touchy. It's one thing to make action movies about bad Russian, Chinese, North Korean, or Middle Eastern bad guys, but it's entirely another to make light of them.

I let my perfect 10 rating stand for all this film is and represents.

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

Just not that good

[6/10 · 13 September 2014]

There was a lot to like in this film, but ultimately it failed to connect with me... Which is a shame, because I really really really wanted to like it. It had some interesting characters, funny interactions, and sweet effects, but ultimately failed to bring everything together in a way which made the sum meaningful.

After my wife and I left the theater I was almost embarrassed to ask her what she thought--because I was afraid she was going to say what I was already feeling myself... and that after I pushed her to see the movie when she was decidedly "meh" after seeing the trailer. Neither of us really cared for it, and both of us were disappointed. We both walked away thinking, so this is why it doesn't make sense to go see movies in the theater anymore. You drop a lot of money to see big budget extravaganza's which ultimately fail to satisfy. It just felt like a movie which only played lip service to the characters, and dwelled on the action. For me, a lot of action has no meaning without a lot of character substance. And it's a bad sign if I find myself more interested in the "bad guy" winning and destroying planets, and being generally evil, than I am in the "good guys" saving the day. This was totally the case here. I didn't really care if the good guys won or the bad guy won.

I hear they're already making a sequel. My wife and I have been burned by the first one and have little interest in more of the same. There was so much good stuff here which was squandered that it really makes me sad.

Mars Needs Moms (2011)

I loved it

[10/10 · 22 June 2014]

I'm shocked to see how poorly this is rated on IMDb. In fact, if I'd known it only had a 5.4 here I probably never would have given it a chance. But since I didn't, I gave it a chance. To my surprise I loved it. And that's an odd thing for a mid-thirties guy to say. I found it good-hearted, exceptionally well written, and a thrilling vicarious cinematic ride.

For me, at least, this is everything I look for in a "kid's" movie. It was a ton of fun with a hero who I really rooted for and an entertaining supporting cast.

All I can say is that I can't wait to watch it again, and I almost never feel that way about any movie. Go ahead and give it a try yourself and see if you don't agree. I highly recommend this film.

The Fall (I) (2013–2016)

Exceptionally well-written, directed, and acted. VERY dark and scary

[9/10 · 30 May 2013]

This show, as many British shows, takes its time developing. It's not in a rush like American TV.

This happens to be one reason why I like British television. Anyway, this show scared the bejesus out of me showing everything in such stark, real detail.

It's very very scary to see someone who has such an ordinary life (wife, kids, job) being such an evil person on the inside.

Anyway, if you like British television and you like VERY DARK shows, this show will probably rock your socks off. Me? I don't know if I can handle how dark it is in spite of its excellence.

Elementary (2012–2019)

Preachy

[5/10 · 29 May 2013]

This WOULD be a good show IF they would take the politics out of it. Making Sherlock into a hyper-liberal character who spouts his political philosophy at every opportunity is just absurd. For one thing, Sherlock (the classic character) doesn't give a hoot about politics. They're for trivial mortals to concern themselves with. He's got much better things to care about...like the present, in which all kinds of crime is occurring and which needs to be solved.

So by all means, if you like having classic characters spout propaganda just because the writers want them to, watch this show. But my wife and I found it irritating after a while. I like my TV with a minimum of politics or at least a balanced approach: argue for all sides if you're gonna argue for any one of them.

The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010)

Everything I hoped it would be!

[10/10 · 29 July 2010]

I'm not a studio mole or anything--just a normal viewer like yourself who loves a good fun movie. I'm writing this review (which I don't normally do even for movies I love) because I think this film is getting unfairly abused by others.

Granted, this film doesn't push the boundaries of film-making like Inception, but it does what it sets out to do VERY well. The directing and editing are tight and unobtrusive, the visual effects are phenomenal, the story is well-executed and entertaining (though in retrospect somewhat predictable), the acting (especially on the part of the awkward male lead) is outstanding. The casting, too, is perfect. In fact, the only slightly sour note in the whole thing is Nic Cage. His role would've benefited from some lesser known, or totally unknown, actor. Nic Cage is Nic Cage and that's just hard to see past when he's playing the role of a legendary sorcerer. They got an excellent lesser-known actress to play the minor part of his love interest (Monica Bellucci) and the role suited her well. However, that issue aside the villains are awesome, and the magic spectacular.

This film, like romantic comedies, doesn't set out to be unpredictable, though in parts the viewer really won't know exactly which turn the story will take. In this kind of film we WANT the hero to win, we want to see the hero become all he can be, we want the hero to get the girl, and we want it all done with class. Here, in Sorcerer's Apprentice, it is. I rated this film 10/10 because it succeeded on every level for me. Heck, it was as good as any of Bruckheimer's (the producers) other efforts, so I'm not sure why it's getting soundly trashed by so many (critics, et al).

In short, if you like the feel of the trailer (minus the horrendous loud rockish kind of music), you'll like the actual experience of Sorcerer's Apprentice. While some may disagree with me, I found this film to be an excellent diversion and a GREAT night at the movies.

A+ p.s. Bruckheimer, if you read this, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make a sequel as witty and sharply done as this one! I think your audience just needed a first film to warm up to the idea of magic in modern day. And "thank you!" to Nic Cage for conceiving the idea of Sorcerer's Apprentice and pushing it through the labyrinthine process of development known as finicky Hollywood (I've read that the story/idea for Sorcerer's Apprentice came from Nic Cage).

Avatar (2009)

very good but not great

[7/10 · 21 December 2009]

It's a tremendous achievement of film-making, but it's not the second coming as has been widely rumored. Things I liked: incredible imagery, awesome 3D, excellent acting, a simple well-executed story, characters that we care about (even the aliens), action drama romance--the works. Things I didn't like: I hate it when I see movies which glorify "indigenous peoples" and act as though our modern day culture has nothing to offer. I think it's too simple minded, and offensive to both sides of the coin. I'm insulted because there's a lot of good things about the culture of the developed world, and there are good things about the undeveloped world--or primitive worlds of the past. However, to paint the Na'vi as a people who're totally happy, need nothing, have everything...who seem, somehow, to have the perfect life living the primitive life they do...it's irritating. It takes greater skill as a writer and director to paint both sides in an accurate way: both sides having good and bad traits (as is realistic), both sides having good and bad individuals. Instead, here we have the Na'vi as ALL good, the scientists ALL good, and the corporate folks all bad. Retarted. Additionally, I felt like the anti-corporate slant was a little tired. It just pandered overtly to the recent anti-"fat cats on Wall Street" and sense of resentment about those unidentified rich people who started the recession. Lame. Grow up. We're such a society of self-loathing, self-hating people who resent it when others make more than we do, always wishing to be like those societies of old who mythically had the perfect life...and this movie seemed to be attempting to tap into that self-hatred. Anyway, masterful film-making with that last exception.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008)

As poorly written and directed as the first

[5/10 · 6 June 2008]

I continue to be extremely disappointed in the Chronicles of Narnia series of films. Production values are always high (lots of cash being spent on these films) but the acting is wooden in the extreme (with the exception of the two youngest actors), the direction equally as wooden and inappropriate (moving when it should be still, still when it should be moving; shots often lack drama or seem obviously posed), and the score is intrusive. All in all, this is ham-fisted film-making at its worst. It's a shame they couldn't do a better job adapting such classic works of fiction. I gave this second Narnia film a chance after hearing it was "much darker" than the first--which I interpreted to mean that it was, like Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, bound to be better than the previous film(s). Alas, it was not to be. True, this second film IS "darker," but unfortunately it is not remotely "good." Go in expecting it to be bad, and you might end up satisfied. I, however, was not.

Pan's Labyrinth (2006)

A film for anyone who hasn't slaughtered the child within

[10/10 · 28 January 2007]

Tremendously, poignantly sad, Pan's Labyrinth is a masterpiece of cinema.

Pan's Labyrinth is equivalent to our daily experience--in which we wake up every morning bathed in the reality that life is not all perfect, fluffy Disney movies. In fact, life often seems unbalanced in favor of the pain and anguish department. Moments of joy, happiness, love, security, satisfaction--every experience of positive emotion--are fleeting, more mirage than solid reality.

Pan's Labyrinth speaks to the child wearing an adults shell. It speaks to our sense of horror at the world and life we're surrounded with. Agreeably, few of us endure the horrors, pain, fear, and despair of Ofelia's life, but by painting Ofelia's demons and nightmares as vividly as she experienced them, our daily struggles are immortalized, honored. We, vicariously through Ofelia, feel that perhaps there's a reason we endure the turmoil of life. Perhaps we too are princes and princesses, destined for greater things. Pan's Labyrinth is a movie for thinking people; a movie for those who feel like there must be more; a movie for anyone who's ever struggled onward, day to day, winning small battles but feeling they're loosing the larger war.

Pan's Labyrinth is not for the faint of heart, nor for those who've slaughtered the child within on the alter of harsh reality. Pan's Labyrinth is for everyone else.