Review of The Shape of Water (2017) by Robto — 12 Mar 2018
This is pretty much every creature movie ever. Misunderstood creature with magical healing powers befriended by a powerless woman who tries to help him escape - has been done much better in Frankenstein, King Kong, ET, etc.
In case you didn't get the point, let's make the powerless woman mute and throw in some other powerless outcasts: a gay man (this is the 1960's) and an African-American woman. A cartoonishly bad bad guy - haven't we gotten tired of the evil scientist cliche? - some cartoonish Russians, complete with bungled silly passwords ("The eagle takes the pigeon for its prey"), and a creature that looks like a guy in a rubber mask.
Lord of the Rings had plenty of guys in rubber masks, but they had actors that could turn them into believably alien creatures. Here it just looks like a guy in a rubber mask. And don't get me started on all the plot absurdities (cleaning women allowed free run of a room with a secret and dangerous creature, for example).
With all the hype and awards, I expected much, much more.
This review of The Shape of Water (2017) was written by Robto on 12 Mar 2018.
The Shape of Water has generally received very positive reviews.
Was this review helpful?
