Can i be honest about the Shape of Water for a moment?

I'm going to get stabbed and lynched for this, because everyone seems to be in love with this movie, but i think it has some serious problems. This isn't an attempt to piss against the wind just so i can look cool doing it, but it really bothers me, because Guillermo del Toro is one of my favourite director. And i would like to know, if anyone else feels this way.

First of all, the story - the bare core of the film without the subplots - is great. It has a clear message and somewhat original as well. But the execution has "studio" written all over it. I hope that i'm wrong, but this movie is the first Guillermo picture that seems to be in a hurry. Everything happens because the plot must go forward, and not in a good way.

The fairytale-like aspect is only a couple of lines at the beginning and at the end. That's it. The frame has no top or bottom and the style suffers from it. But it's not that big of a deal. My main problem is the pacing.

We get a short montage about the main character as she becomes acquainted with the "monster" and the connection seems rather forced. Yes, we don't know exactly how much time has passed, but the montage doesn't convey their "growing affection" really well.

Because of this, the whole ordeal lost its intimacy to me. There was nothing romantic about their story, and honestly, it was as if a creepy woman with a horrid fetish got horny and wanted to get laid sooner than later. The scene where she tells the neighbour about how the "monster" accept her comes off as a forced explanation before the audience can notice that something is off. Everything is tainted, because the soul of the movie, the core scenes where they form some sort of a connection, is missing. At least i wasn't satisfied with a tiny montage, no matter how stylistically good it was.

To be frank, before seeing the movie, i thought it would take place mostly in the facility where the monster is kept right until the end. I expected something slow and magical. Not a subplot-riddled mess, where there's no real connection. Yes i know that it's a movie about a woman falling in love with a strange creature, but still. I feel like a good half an hour is missing.

But i can not hate this movie. Guillermo is still one of my favourite, and if this is what is takes to hear more from him in the future, then be it.

I just feel that it's missing. It is a deluted version of a dark and magical story which is right up in Guillermo's alley, but without a real immersion on his part.

Submitted March 05, 2018 at 06:13AM by Tom_Waits_for_noone http://ift.tt/2I1IWVy