Movie Review: Cronos

7/10

Let me be straight with you, this is a really good film. It's not for everyone.

Seems a shame to go into the plot and spoil it for everyone - the little I will say about that is that it concerns a girl and her grandfather who make a strange discovery in an old statue. Thing is, a dying billionaire and his son are looking for exactly the same thing, and will stop at nothing to get it. What are they after? That would be telling.

This is Guillermo Del Toro's first feature film - I do like his films as I have said before - this is no exception, and features the excellent Federico Luppi (who impressed me in The Devil's Backbone) as the grandfather in question.

The performances are universally excellent and again, despite the surreal and occasionally horrific story, Del Toro's usual trick of making horrific material without ending up with a genre horror picture is in evidence again. The main and most important performances in the film are those of the grandfather and his grandchild, and it is pretty much by these characters that the film lives or dies.

Luckily the acting is very good on both parts, the girl's character is particularly well acted despite saying absolutely nothing for 99% of the movie, she manages to outact virtually every Hollywood child performance you will usually see.

The supporting cast is up to the challenge too, with fantastic turns from all concerned, especially from Ron Perlman, who is a mainstay of Del Toro's movies and a far better actor than his usual casting implies.

The movie is all about the fear of death and our obsession with it. The fact that noone can avoid their eventual fate is the main point. The colour palette is heavily influenced by the Hammer and Italian Horror films that are the directors passion, lots of hyper-red blood and really really black, blacks. This adds to the surreal nature of the film, and that is the thing, as horror films go, it's not reallty all that horrifc - it's surreal, creepy and a bit melancholy but not pant wettingly scary.

This is a fine start for Del Toro, and he has gone on from here to become something of a rising star is Hollywood - the line from here to Pan's Labyrinth is very easy to draw. His next projects include The Hobbit and for once I am not worried about the change of director from Lord Of The Rings, especially since Peter Jackson and his collaborators Fran and Philippa are still involved.

So, should you see Cronos? I'm not really sure that I can say yes, as it entirely depends on what you are expecting. If you know Del Toro's work and enjoyed it, then I would heartily say yes. If you are expecting a horror movie, then no. It's neither scary enough or bloody enough to warrant such a tag, and many may view the box art (which features an image nowhere in the movie) and certificate as misleading. I enjoyed it, but I think the slow pace and relationship based story may put some off. Hence 7/10.

A