Filmed in Spanish, with English subtitles. Billed as a fairytale for adults, this is close to the mark. It’s hard not to be caught up in the story, and swept along with what’s happening. Del Torro has written and directed an amazing work. Yes, it’s violent – mainly the violence of the ruthless Captain, but a fair amount of the violence is implied: most of the effect is in the tension that is created waiting for something to happen.
The characters are one-dimensional, but only in the way of fairy tales, and so this too is excusable, I thought. If you’re a fan of Henson-esque worlds brought to life, and you were comfortable watching something like Saving Private Ryan (though Pan is far less violent than Ryan), then this is the grown-up sequel.
Implied? Violence implied? You’ve got to be kidding me! Did they have a version like The Passion of the Christ that had six minutes cut out?
If there was any chance at all that they could show the violence on-screen, they went for it . . .
That said, though, no one was getting bored.
it was nowhere near as bad as it could have been: there were a number of instances where they cut away, in some cases not even returning to show the after-effects.
How good is David Bowie’s Spanish? Ay, ay, ay, no me gusta!