Review of The Shape of Water (2017) by Shona F — 28 Feb 2018

With all the Oscar talk and plagiarism controversy swirling around it, I don't know what I really expected out of this flick... It has Guillermo del Toro written all over it, undoubtedly, with a surreal atmosphere like a combination of "Hell Boy" and "Pan's Labyrinth," as well as a strong "Creature from the Black Lagoon" vibe.

By the way, the Universal Studios "Creature" trilogy of the 1950s is one of del Toro's favorite monster treatments, and it's one that he wanted to remake in his own style, but Universal rejected his repeated proposals for years.

This movie, however, doesn't really adhere to the aforementioned influences; rather, it enters the realm of Tim Burton's "Edward Scissorhands," with the same simplistic storyline: An intelligent (even "magical") monster is brought into a dreamy caricature of "modern" mid-20th Century civilization, where it manages to make both loving friends and brutal enemies and eventually escapes back to its remote origins once more.

Yes, there is the much-touted love interest between the monster and a human female; but this is no more derivative than "The Creature" was derivative of "King Kong" or a dozen other films in which the monster falls for the girl. That's just a time-worn Hollywood trope.

I suppose I expected to see the elements that made "The Shape of Water" worthy of an Academy Award nomination...and I came away disappointed, because I just don't see it as Oscar-worthy.

Production-wise, "Shape of Water" is only so-so: the story is a Hollywood standard; the sets are colorful but not especially innovative; the great majority of the monster effects are just latex; the musical score is not particularly memorable; and the acting is only adequate.

Then there are the numerous stereotypes: the black and latino "cleaning ladies" who become "empowered"; the bible-thumping white "big boss man" who sadistically bullies and tortures and shoots anyone that crosses his path; the "devious Russians" carrying out covert operations; and, of course, the "lonely homosexual" who has been alienated all his life by 20th Century Western society.

Please, Guillermo. A 21st-Century "social justice" monster movie? Sheesh.

These stereotypes are politically-correct cardboard cut-outs (unlike the characters in most del Toro films), which left me thinking that del Toro didn't work his usual magic on this one.

So, no. No Oscar vote here.