Review of The Shape of Water (2017) by Grant S — 11 May 2018

Okay, but hardly Oscar-worthy.

It is the mid-1960s. Elisa is mute, and a cleaner at a US government experiment facility. Her life is quite mundane and unfulfilled. Then the facility starts on a new project: the US government has captured a man-fish hybrid in South America and now they are seeing if the creature's unique physiology could have some uses for humans, especially for astronauts. Elisa becomes attached to the creature.

The winner of Best Picture at the 2018 Oscars, though difficult to see why. A pretty basic movie - a linear romantic drama with one-dimensional characters, cartoonish, badness-laid-on-so-thick-it's-laughable villains, conventional plot development and a fairly predictable ending. It's not that profound or original in its themes or development (unless the viewer has only seen a handful of movies in their life) - quite dumbed-down (though that might be more a reflection of modern audiences than anything else). If it wasn't for the excellent CGI, the sentimentality, the slickness of the plot development and some of the performances it would be just another B-grade creature feature.

Part of the problem is that director Guillermo del Toro tries to steer a path between fairy tale and gritty drama, and thus ends up with something that is tonally jarring and inconsistent. The movie from the start has a light, airy feel, the ideal set up for a sweet, all-ages drama. There's even some funny moments to help this along. Yet, interspersed with the lightness are several adult-orientated scenes. Even as the movie becomes darker, bloodier and grittier, del Toro still tries to cling to the fairy tale side.

Made as a plain fairy tale-like drama, suitable for all ages, this would have worked a whole lot better.

Not that it's that bad though. The movie moves at a decent pace and is quite entertaining. There is a decent level of intrigue and tension and Sally Hawkins puts in a great performance as Elisa.