Review of The Shape of Water (2017) by Gary E — 18 Feb 2018
Yes, this is a beautifully-crafted love story, the colors are stunning, the acting is generally solid (not incredible, though, but read on for more on that), and there is some curious magic to an inter-species sex scene.
But, I have just covered all that is great about this film. The rest is simply good. Sally Hawkins, Michael Stuhlbarg, Michael Shannon, and Octavia Spencer were all good-to-very-good, depending on the scene.
And I'm also a big fan of all of them, it should be said. But man, were they all actiiiiiiiiiiing. The only great performance in the movie was Richard Jenkins, who surprised the hell out of me. Otherwise, acting as well as the writing both made me like I was watching a movie, not being immersed into this great, modern Fairy Tale that everyone is talking about.
The Shape of Water is Oscar bait (pardon the pun) at its core and it is likely to be rewarded as such despite being a highly derivative story and borrowing its entire style from video games of the past (e.
G. BioShock). This is a good movie and this is bound to be a safe year for the Oscars as they go in cycles. It's the perfect, glittery follow-up winner to the raw Moonlight, which won out over glitter-bomb La La Land last year.
A final note: Can we talk about how we know nothing about the relationship between Hawkins and Jenkins' characters and never find out anything out about the Monster outside of him being inexplicably friendly towards a mute girl?
This review of The Shape of Water (2017) was written by Gary E on 18 Feb 2018.
The Shape of Water has generally received very positive reviews.
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