I had sky high expectations for this movie, but I wasn't worried because Guillermo del Toro has never let me down with a film, and this one is no exception. What an engaging fantasy! The cruelty of the real world in which this little girl finds herself is enough to make my skin crawl. Sergi López does such a great job being despicable that I despised him before I even laid eyes on his character. Ariadna Gil is perfect as the sickly pregnant mother who wants nothing more than to give her children a better life, thus I couldn't blame her for what she did even when she united with a terrible tyrant who treated her like a baby machine instead of a person. Maribel Verdú as Mercedes is perfect as the servant who serves as a second mother to Ofelia both before and after her mother dies, and we cheer for Mercedes as she leads a double life, secretly defying the Capitan and helping the insurgents who are trying to bring him down. Doug Jones is the perfect fairy tale guide, at turns both enchanting and foreboding as he leads Ofelia through her tests to prove she is worthy of the title of princess. And of course Ivana Baquero's performance shines as she plays shy, timid, childlike, loyal, virtuous, and ultimately triumphant in her own mind. It's very rare that a movie makes me wish I had kids I could watch it with (in fact, the last time I really felt that way was when I was watching del Toro's The Devil's Backbone) but this movie perfectly captures the perilous and adventurous spirit of stories I remember fondly from my childhood.

It's never fully clear, even at the end of the movie, whether Ofelia was crazy or whether her fantasy world was real but either way, she embraced her destiny and proved her valor by the end of the movie. Truth be told, nothing in this movie is easy. As much as the Captain is a despicable scumbag who deserves his fate, he really did love his son and I was surprised to feel a twinge of sadness for him at the end of the movie. Ofelia's mother loved her daughter and unborn son but she also bound her fate to that of a tyrant so it's possible to want to smack her even as you're sympathetic to her plight. In true journey stories, nothing is easy, especially within the framework of an adult world where "right" is represented by a power hungry bastard like the Captain and "wrong" is a traitor who is as virtuous and motherly as Mercedes. Who wouldn't choose fantasy when faced with a reality like this? And what truly is reality? Regardless of what may be "real" and what may be the workings of a young girl's overactive imagination, Ofelia is happy, loved, and at peace within her world, and that's all that matters.

The gore, when it appears even briefly, is well done. I admit it, I flinched. I'm not as desensitized as I sometimes appear. And the computer effects are never hokey, instead they add to the magical feel of the fantasy world in which Ofelia finds herself.

Honestly, I can't think of one negative thing to say about this movie, so well did it transport me into its world. I was so enthralled by this movie that I didn't want to see it end. Del Toro has created another fantastic fairy tale world that I won't soon forget.