Cronos Reviews

Since it was the last movie directed by Guillermo del Toro which I hadn't seen yet, I was of course really eager to check it out. Later on, I also 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. Well, 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 though. Still, as usual, with del Toro, the whole thing looked really neat, 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. Indeed, the pacing was pretty sluggish and, in my opinion, the characters were rather poorly developped. On top of that, the constant mix of Spanish and English languages was rather distracting (I did buy a very cheap 2nd hand dvd so maybe the dubbing might have been messed up). 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. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it is still a really solid directing debut and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Guillermo del Toro's work.

"Cronos" is a film that starts out promising, then kills itself dead much to the horror of the viewer. Director Guillermo Del Toro is one of today's most impressive filmmakers, but even he couldn't resuscitate this dud after a certain point.

Initially, we are given an interesting premise- pleasant, aging antiques dealer Jesus (Frederico Luppi, who would later go on to play in Del Toro's great "Pan's Labyrinth" and "The Devil's Backbone") comes upon a a strange discovery hidden within a statue of an angel in his shop.

This discovery, as it so happens, is a golden scarab- tucked away with the hopes, presumably, of never, ever, being found. Meanwhile, loutish thug Angel (Ron Perlman) is looking for the scarab, which in turn, is doing strange things to Jesus.

The scarab contains the secret to eternal life, wherein lies the big question- Would you like to live forever, regardless of the consequences? To watch history unfold, but to see your children, you grandchildren age and die before your very eyes?

Unfortunately, the film trades pathos for kitsch and camp. At times it displays the worst qualities of American cinema- stupidity, coarseness, and crisis of tone. Also, child actor Tamara Sharath plays the completely unbelievable character of Jesus' granddaughter, Aurora.

I mean, this girl is a trooper. She deals with mutilation, injury, a beloved family member coming back as one of the undead- with nary a sniffle, let alone a tear. Are we supposed to believe that little girls behave this way, even brave little girls?

What's more surprising to me than Guillermo Del Toro's name on the film is the fact that it was released on Criterion Collection, distinguished as 'important contemporary and classic' films from around the world. This is not even a particularly good film, let alone a important or classic ones, so crowning it as such boggles the recesses of my mind.

Please, don't let this review stop you from seeing Del Toro's later films. I am in the minority in that I actually like his spooky ghost story, "The Devil's Backbone," better than the Oscar winning "Pan's Labyrinth." This is, to be fair, Del Toro's first feature-length film.

Remember when you couldn't draw very well (maybe you still can't draw very well, but I digress?) Maybe you drew stick figures, and your mother hung them from the kitchen wall like you were a virtual Van Gogh. Well, this is Guillermo Del Toro's stick figure to his later Auguste Renoir's, and a reminder that the best of us were amateurs at one time.

Guillermo del Toro’s first film is less a vampire story, of which it is, and more of a love story between a grandfather and his granddaughter. It is filled with del Toro’s wildly inventive imagination – you’ve got to see the inside of the golden egg/mechanical spider to believe it – and love for humanity amongst all of the gore, it is a great debut film. It should come as no shock that he’s only made a handful of films and I have either loved or respected them all.

Cronos is half in Spanish and half in English, but it’s merged together in a realistic and believable way. There’s no tourists played for laughs or awkward moments with border patrol here. These groups of people occupy the same part of town and interact routinely. Well, mostly Frederico Luppi as the grandfather and Ron Perlman as the anatagonist’s nose job obsessed nephew interact. Our main villain and heroine are confined to one room or mute throughout much of the film.

And while later films like Mimic or Pan’s Labyrinth would be brutal and vivid in their violence and gore, but never without a certain amount of taste and always necessary to the story, the gore and brutality is relatively limited in this film. But our main character still removes his blue skin to reveal a shiny white new layer, and gets his mouth shown shut while being embalmed. Del Toro understands that unnecessary gore and bloodshed actually distract from and takeaway from a good film. And this is a very good one. Mimic and Blade II would be creative dips, but not without a certain amount of charm and respectability, he would go on to great things with The Devil’s Backbone and Pan’s Labyrinth. Here’s the beginnings of one of our greatest young directors currently working.

Cronos is an enchanting and beautiful film to watch, but it left me constantly longing to be allowed to submerge myself deeper into the magical world that its characters stumbled into. As a result i was left never feeling quite satisfied.
I didn't receive a single fright, but that was ok, because its dark comedy and odd quirks took center stage instead.
A lovely storyline and beautiful brooding gothic imagery from the early work of Guillermo del Toro has left me eager to see the work he has produced as his career has progressed.