THE SHAPE OF WATER

The Shape Of Water Movie Review

The Shape Of Water--It's a little bit like Creature From The Black Lagoon, and a lot like Splash, but with a lot more profanity and nudity, and very little of the comedy...yeah, that about wraps it up...

...

Okay, okay, I'll talk a little more about this film--it is the 2018 Academy Awards winner for Best Picture and Best Director (Guillermo Del Toro), as well as the winner for Best Original Music Score and Best Production Design; it also had close to ten additional nominations--I wouldn't swear to it, but I would say this is likely the first Best Picture winner I've reviewed on this site. The story plays out like this--a mute woman (Sally Hawkins, Godzilla) falls for a distant relative of Gill-man (named Amphibian Man here, and played by Doug Jones of The Bye Bye Man), but a military faction, headed by a jerk (Michael Shannon of Bug, a movie that if I were to review would make the Worst of the Worst list), wants to kill and perform research of our fishy friend...sound familiar?

"Why yes...yes it does!"

Lack of originality aside, this movie actually does have a lot going for it The film is visually stunning--it combines a gritty realism with scenes that would rival practically any other fantasy film. Del Toro does a wonderful job directing, adding unique camera angles and shots throughout. The acting is very good across the board--Shannon does such a wonderful job as the villain you will want to reach into your set and choke him. Personally, my favorite thing was that Del Toro skipped the whole CGI monster thing, choosing instead to put a man in a rubber suit, just like...you know.

Maybe he read this?

Was The Shape of Water the best film of 2017? No, it wasn't. Was it a really good film? No question. Though primarily a love story, it does hold enough horror and sci-fi elements to please fans of those genres, and no doubt, anybody reading this right now.

On A Scale Of One To Ten: 7

The Shape Of Water Movie Trailer