Review of The Shape of Water (2017) by Devlind — 14 Jan 2018

I really tried to like this movie, but in the end it was in vain. Of course, I'm no expert, but I trust in my good taste in story telling. As some people commented, finding things just for the sake to be original isn't really necessary to effectively tell a good story. This romantic version of "Free Willy" is just an example. Just to start, both the protagonist and the sidekick are an utter pain. They barely had any dimension, how are we as spectators supposed to feel invested in their goals like that? How can we root for them? The pacing is awkward and unnecessarily long. A lot of things are just there for plot convenience. Subplots are thrown into the mix only to be forgotten immediately without any consequence. Even with Alexandre Desplat, the music is forgetable. The ending is abrupt and we are left with a lot of stuff still hanging.

Of course, there's good stuff in the movie too. The acting was good (although a little unrealistic at times), Octavia's and Michael characters were enjoyable and the main plot (when we got that on screen) was on point and that's why this movie is just average to me. It does really good in one side, but what it does wrong, it does it really wrong (sometimes cringe worthy).

If you have an open mind and you just want to watch something without thinking about it too much and just drift with it, go ahead and give it a go. With any luck, you'll enjoy it or even like it. I tried and it was definitely an experience.

Not watching it again though.