A Complete Review of Guillermo del Toro's work

Cast : Ewan McGregor, Cate Blanchett, Tilda Swinton, Christoph Waltz, Ron Perlman, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson

What was it about?
A darker version of the classic children's fairy tale of a wooden puppet that transforms into a real living boy.

My two cents:
To be honest, after the really useless live-action version released by Disney this year, I can’t say I was really dying to see again another version of this famous tale, especially so soon. However, a new movie directed by Guillermo Del Toro is always a big event, especially when it is a passion project like this one on which he has been working for more than 10 years. Well, first of all, there is no doubt that the damned thing was visually really neat and if you’re into stop-motion, this flick is definitely a must-see. Concerning the story itself, it was pretty cool that they did extend the introduction and displayed in the process the relationship between Geppetto and his deceased son, Carlo. They also combined some elements from Frankenstein’s story. As a result, Geppetto actually really freaked out when Pinocchio came to life and it took him a while to accept him and eventually love him. It really deferred from the other adaptations but I thought it was a really interesting approach. For some reason, the action was also taking place in the 30’s in Fascist Italy which was not necessarily a bad idea but I’m not sure if it really had such an interesting added value. Unfortunately, even though Del Toro did tweak the story a little bit, in my opinion, it was still the same old tale that I have seen so many times by now and I find it hard to really care at this point. Above all, I think they should have dropped as many details as possible from the Disney classic adaptation to make sure that this movie could really stand on its own.

My rating: 07/10

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Cast : Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, Ron Perlman, David Strathairn, Richard Jenkins, Tim Blake Nelson

What was it about?
An ambitious young carny with a talent for manipulating people with a few well-chosen words hooks up with a female psychiatrist who is even more dangerous than he is.

My two cents:
For the 1st time of his career, Del Toro finally handled a fairly realistic tale without some fantastic elements but there was an obvious connection between his usual work and this carnival world filled with freaks and misfits. Anyway, there is no denying that the damned thing looked amazing and Del Toro, with his first neo-noir, delivered a pitch-perfect mood. Bradley Cooper also delivered a strong performance as well, even if his character turned out to be not much more than a cheap hustler after all. Concerning the story, it definitely had some potential but, to be honest, I think it could have been even better developed though. First of all, even if it was always entertaining, it was also really long and it felt as if Del Toro tried to combine two movies in one. To make things worse, in spite of the rather extensive running time, most of the other characters (Molly, Dr. Lilith Ritter, Zeena, Pete, Clem, Ezra Grindle) were all barely developed which was a shame since they were all quite fascinating. The biggest victim was probably Rooney Mara who was stuck playing another thankless part. I mean, what did Molly see in Stanton? And, the other way around, what did he see in her? Coming back on Stanton Carlisle, we do spend so much time with the guy and, as a result, I was expecting him to come up with something exceptional at some point. However, after all, the guy went from being a hobo to be a cheap hustler, then a slight less cheap hustler and finally ended up as a pathetic drunk so you might wonder if the guy was really worth spending so much time with after all. On the other hand, I have to admit that the final scene was pretty much perfect. All in all, even if it wasn’t really a homerun, it was a solid watch though.

My rating: 07/10

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Cast : Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins, Octavia Spencer

What was it about?
At a top secret research facility in the 1960s, a lonely janitor forms a unique relationship with an amphibious creature that is being held in captivity.

My two cents:
Well, as usual with this director, even though I did admire the work done and even though it turned to be quite enjoyable, to be honest, it didn't really blow me away though. Still, you have to give del Toro some credit as he once again has delivered another visually gorgeous picture with some really solid directing and the whole cast gave some strong performances but, eventually, I'm afraid I just didn't care much about this story. Basically, it was a decent romantic fairy-tale, no doubt about it, but what bothered me the most was how predictable the whole thing turned out to be. I mean, you just need to have a glimpse of the poster and you already know what will happen during the whole duration and, if you watch the trailer, it's even worse but that's something that can be said about most trailers. At least, with 'El laberinto del fauno', another del Toro picture I have always struggled to feel some connection with, I was still wondering what would happen during the whole thing. Anyway, even though I wasn't really dazzled by the whole thing, it was still pretty good and it is definitely worth a look.

My rating: 07/10

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Cast : Charlie Hunnam, Tom Hiddleston, Jessica Chastain, Mia Wasikowska

What was it about?
Young author Edith Cushing discovers that her charming new husband is not who he appears to be.

My two cents:
Following 'Pacific Rim' which was decent but slightly underwhelming, fortunately, it didn’t take Guillermo del Toro so long to come up with a new directing effort and this new project seemed to be some perfect material for him. Indeed, he really delivered a high-class Gothic horror tale with some impressive sets, some gorgeous costumes, some great special effects and a very strong cast. And yet, the whole thing still failed to really impress me. Basically, at the end of the day, the story wasn't really strong in my opinion. Indeed, the pacing is really sluggish and, very soon, it was pretty obvious what the hell was going on and, unfortunately, I can’t say I really cared about the characters and what they were going through.

My rating: 06/10

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Cast : Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Rinko Kikuchi, Clifton Collins Jr., Ron Perlman

What was it about?
As a war between humankind and monstrous sea creatures wages on, a former pilot and a trainee are paired up to drive a seemingly obsolete special weapon in a desperate effort to save the world from the apocalypse.

My two cents:
Personally, I thought it turned out to be pretty disappointing. I mean, it was not bad at all and there were indeed some pretty massive action scenes but everything in between those action scenes was just really underwhelming. I mean, it was nice that del Toro took a more worldwide approach instead of only focusing on the USA but he only partially succeeded. Furthermore, they introduced this concept called 'drift' which is basically the melting of two minds and while this concept was pretty far out and could have been really interesting, it was never properly developed. Finally, the dialogues and the characters were really weak. At the end of the day, for his first big budget blockbuster, del Toro didn't really make a home run and, in my opinion, this movie was only slightly better than the Transformers franchise.

My rating: 06/10

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Cast : Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones, Jeffrey Tambor, John Hurt

What was it about?
The mythical world starts a rebellion against humanity in order to rule the Earth, so Hellboy and his team must save the world from the rebellious creatures.

My two cents:
After 'Pan's labyrinth', Guillermo del Toro suddenly became hugely popular among the mainstream audience and everybody seemed to be pretty excited to see his following feature, even more than when the first installment was released. Personally, I wasn’t sure about this sequel and eventually, I was right. I have to admit, it was visually great but the story was seriously not really inspiring. Sure, it was interesting and entertaining enough and some of the characters looked pretty bad-ass but I really had a hard time to care about the whole thing. Maybe I was bothered by all the romantic stuff, maybe the whole thing should have been darker, I don’t know. Since then, there has been some ever ending discussion about a possible 3rd installment but it seems unlikely that it will ever get made. Not only there is apparently some rights issue involved but also del Toro seems to be one of the busiest directors in the world, even though he manages to make only 1 movie every 5 years. So, it was a gorgeous flick but only an average story in my opinion.

My rating: 06/10

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Cast : Sergi Lopez

What was it about?
In the fascist Spain of 1944, the bookish young stepdaughter of a sadistic army officer escapes into an eerie but captivating fantasy world.

My two cents:
Since it was a huge critical success, I was really dying to watch this flick. Eventually, I had 2 issues with this movie. First, it was very overhyped when I watched it the first time so my expectations were too high. Second, I was expecting a fantasy picture and the fantasy is only half of the movie, the other half being a war drama. Basically, I didn't get what I expected. In spite of all this, I really liked it. There is some very good directing and a fascinating story. Some years later, I watched it again to make up my mind for good and, honestly, the second time around, it gave me about the same feeling. I mean, the directing was very good, the special effects were quite awesome, the story was intriguing and entertaining enough but, honestly, I never really felt swept away by this fantasy world. To conclude, it is a very well made and interesting dark fairy tale but it is not much more than that, in my opinion.

My rating: 08/10

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Cast : Ron Perlman, John Hurt, Selma Blair Selma Blair, Jeffrey Tambor, Doug Jones

What was it about?
A demon, raised from infancy after being conjured by and rescued from the Nazis, grows up to become a defender against the forces of darkness.

My two cents:
Since del Toro was not yet widely well known, when it was released, it was only a modest success but it is has nowadays reached cult status. To be honest, I’m not really familiar with this comic-book character but I must admit, he is definitely a really cool and badass guy and Ron Perlman was perfect for this part. His background was also pretty interesting and I also enjoyed the other characters like Liz Sherman and Abe Sapien. Furthermore, it was visually quite appealing and there were plenty of impressive action scenes. Still, even though I enjoyed most of it, I still don’t think the whole thing was really amazing. I mean, the story was not bad but nothing really impressive but, above all, I didn’t care much about the tone. Indeed, the whole thing is constantly tongue-in-cheeck and after a while, it really wore me down and I think I would have enjoyed it more if the whole thing would have been darker. Still, for a comic-book adaptation, there is plenty to enjoy here.

My rating: 06/10

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Cast : Wesley Snipes, Kris Kristofferson, Ron Perlman, Norman Reedus, Thomas Kretschmann, Donnie Yen

What was it about?
Blade forms an uneasy alliance with the vampire council in order to combat the Reaper vampires who feed on vampires.

My two cents:
Personally, I thought ‘Blade’ was actually pretty bad. I mean, I probably should give it another chance and re-watch it but, honestly, I’m not really optimistic. However, concerning this sequel, I was this time rather enthusiast. The ratings were good, it was directed by Guillermo del Toro who is one of the most exciting directors at work nowadays and everybody agreed that it was much better than the first installment so it could be something good. Eventually, I was rather disappointed. Ok, I’ll give you that, it was definitely an improvement on the first installment but it was still not enough to make this really interesting or entertaining to me. I mean, the whole thing looked pretty good, they were some nice monsters and some pretty neat action scenes but I just didn’t care about the main character or the plot at all and, as a result, I was rather bored during the whole thing.

My rating: 05/10

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Cast : Marisa Paredes

What was it about?
After Carlos, a 12-year-old whose father has died in the Spanish Civil War, arrives at an ominous boy's orphanage he discovers the school is haunted and has many dark secrets that he must uncover.

My two cents:
4 years after the 'Mimic' debacle, Guillermo del Toro came back with a Mexican production and the end-result was much better. My main issue with this director is that each time I watch one of his flicks, I tend to have some huge expectations and unfortunately, until now, none of them has succeeded in reaching those expectations and, unfortunately, this movie was not an exception to this rule. I mean, don’t misunderstand me, it was a solid feature. Indeed, it was very well directed, there was a very nice gloomy mood, something Del Toro always manages to provide in his features and the story was entertaining enough. But as always with del Toro, I kept waiting to get really blown away but, somehow, it never really happened. Still, even though I didn’t think it was really amazing, the whole thing was very well done.

My rating: 07/10

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Cast : Mira Sorvino, Jeremy Northam, Giancarlo Giannini, Josh Brolin, F. Murray Abraham, Norman Reedus

What was it about?
Three years ago entomologist Dr. Susan Tyler genetically created an insect to kill cockroaches carrying a virulent disease, now the insects are out to destroy their only predator, mankind!

My two cents:
Since his directing debut was a critical success, Guillermo del Toro got his ticket for Hollywood and made there his sophomore directing effort. Unfortunately, the whole thing turned out to be a disaster and, eventually he disowned the film after constant clashes with his producer, Bob Weinstein. To be honest, I don't think it was that bad at all. I mean, it is indeed a pretty weak vehicle and you could see that Del Toro was inspirationally cripled but, still, there was something pretty neat about the whole concept and, for a B feature, I thought it was rather watchable. The fact that I always had a weak spot for Mira Sorvino (who was still in the A list back in those days) must have helped as well.

My rating: 05/10

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Cast : Ron Perlman

What was it about?
A mysterious device designed to provide its owner with eternal life resurfaces after four hundred years, leaving a trail of destruction in its path.

My two cents:
I have discovered that it was, at the time, the most expensive movie ever made in Mexico which is quite surprising since it was del Toro's first directing feature. To be honest, like most of the movies made by this director, even though I thought it was quite intriguing, it never really blew me away. Still, as usual, with del Toro, the whole thing looked pretty good, especially the diabolical device itself. The story was also quite intriguing, some very dark tale mixing some vampire and zombie ingredients all together. However, some elements did bother me, I thought that the pacing was pretty sluggish, the characters were rather poorly developed and the constant mix of Spanish and English languages was rather distracting. I don't know, it remains a very interesting feature but like all the other movies directed by del Toro, I never managed to really get into it. Still, in spite of its flaws, it remains a pretty solid directing debut though.

My rating: 07/10

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