This was definitely one of my most anticipated of the year. I’ve unfortunately only seen one other Guillermo Del Toro film, with it being the first Hellboy film (and it was awesome). Even though I haven’t seen any other films, his reputation and ambitiousness as a director proceeds him. Just the way he talks about some of his projects is intriguing. He is such a visionary and wants to helm so many great ideas and projects that I can’t help but respect the man. The Shape of Water is no exception. This was an interesting and fantastic film that I couldn’t help but love.
Elisa Esposito is a mute janitor who works as a cleaning lady at a top secret facility. While there, she forms a strange bond with an aquatic creature and is determined to help him no matter what.
The acting was phenomenal on all accounts. Sally Hawkins as Elisa was absolutely wonderful. The fact that she could communicate her entire performance through mostly body language is an exceptional achievement. Great ass too. She delivered such a great emotional and interesting performance that just made me absolutely love and care for her character. Doug Jones. Doug fucking Jones. Okay, where the fuck is his Oscar? WHERE IN THE FUCK IS IT? The fact he doesn’t have one at this point just proves why the Oscars for the most part are idiotic. This performance is just even more proof of how he is a man who is beyond talented. The fact he can deliver such an intriguing and emotionally gripping performance behind makeup and prosthetics is breath-taking (pun intended). He is pretty much the practical version of Andy Serkis. Arguably one of his best performances to date. The chemistry between Elisa and the creature was exceptional and pretty much unseen in romance films nowadays. It was nice to see someone get romance right, and have one that was emotionally investing. Octavia Spencer doesn’t really offer anything new that we haven’t seen from her before, but since she was such a joy to see on screen, I honestly didn’t care. Comic relief that was contrived or forced, what a concept. Marvel, take notes (kidding, kidding). Michael Shannon was a powerhouse as always and was also a really interesting villain. He did seem a bit surface level at times, as he was obviously very racist and very sexist (in the actual sense). But there was some intrigue surrounding his character that made him really interesting. His character very much reminded me of Patrick Bateman. Disguising himself with a nice family, a nice car, a nice house, and the 1950s version of the American Dream to hide his borderline psychopathic tendencies against the creature. He wants to get out of this life, but wants to show everyone how amazing his life is, and finds himself stuck with his only way out is to be a monster and sociopath. It was because of these ideals, and such an amazing performance that made him such a great villain to me. Richard Jenkins had a small role as an implied homosexual artist and is a friend to Elisa. Despite having a small role, he still left an impression on me and I very much enjoyed his character despite not doing a whole lot. Michael Stuhlbarg is a big character actor and I found his performance to be interesting here as well. Despite being a “perceived bad guy” he was a genuinely good person and wanted to do what was best for the creature. There are a bunch of other actors in bit parts and they all do an interesting and believable job.
The cinematography was beautiful, rich, and stylized. It legitimately felt like the look and tone of Bioshock had come to life. It was beautiful to look at and I could tell that every scene was made to perfection. Pacing was good. It had a few slow moments, but they were good, interesting and character driven. But my interest was kept throughout. The effects on Jones were fantastic and were very well executed.
The story was simplistic and done before, but the characters, themes, look, development, and everything else within the story is done to perfection. I normally don’t like romance films because I find them to be boring, uninteresting, and repetitive (coming from a guy who loves slasher films, THAT is saying something) but here, it was done exceptionally. Mainly because I gave a shit about the characters, and the way it told its story was incredibly interesting. It was an experience of a film. Even though the idea of a star crossed romance, hiding a creature, and a straight up psychopathic villain aren’t anything new, it is the way it handles its story, gives such care to its characters, and has exquisite emotional depth that I could not help but love this movie. The more I think about every minute detail, every character, and every second of this wonderful story and touching romance, the more I love it. It is very strange, and that might turn some people off unfortunately, I found this to be and interesting, lovely and wonderful oddity of a film. The fact that an award show like the Golden Globes can see that, just makes me think that not all of those stuffy assholes are totally brain dead.
No negatives.
Overall, an amazing experience of romance, great writing, wonderful acting, a thrilling story, with some good laughs along the way. I cannot wait to see this beautiful oddity once again.
John's Movie Blog 