I thought I was going to get a sensitive and intelligent movie without clichés...was I wrong.
The storyline was confusing itself, trying to be everything to everyone, had too much weirdness and lacked empathy for the central creature.
And virtually nothing was explained about it, Eliza or anything else.
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I'm ashamed for Hollywood that such a confused, irrelevant mess can win 4 oscars?
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Maybe. The message here was garbled, instead of playing on the intellect and possibly psychic 'connection' between the alien and the girl, it descended into farce and even something possibly distasteful.
A load of other mixed and jumbled crap seeped in there, too.
I guess this is what happens when you're a cute woman who lives with a closeted male roommate and masturbate in the tub. You end up fucking a fish man. Can't wait for the sequel when she gives birth to the hybrid creature.
shareIt was a good movie, only the love relation between human and fish was a bit weird.
shareI don't think she was human. She has gills that the fish man heals at the end. I don't think he just gave them to her.
shareYeah, but we are supposed to connect with her, throughout the movie, thinking of her as a normal human.
Ok that we see her gills in the beginning, but it's only hinted at that she might not be totally normal.
For all cases, we see her as human.
Only at the end it is made clear she is not, in a sort of cop-out, to make sure there is no bestiality involved.
Shit film - sex with aliens? Romantic dance scene?
WTF?? Either play it for laughs or give us a gritty 'secret agency' type conspiracy or something. Anything
It's an allegory, a sort of dark fairy tale. Playing it for laughs or giving it a gritty secret agency type of spin would have made it a completely different type of film.
shareIt struck me as del Toro trying to make a Tim Burton film, and not succeeding. Strange, because I like the talent involved, I like the design of the gill man … but Michael Shannon's villain was the sort of role he can play in his sleep. Burton might have made it work, maybe, but that wasn't the case here. I did want to like it, but in the end, the original Creature From The Black Lagoon has more poetry & more integrity, a solid B-film, while The Shape of Water is a moderate-at-best would-be A-list film.
shareI liked it a lot. Great atmosphere, interesting characters (mostly) and plot.
My main criticism was making the villains too one-note, especially Michael Shannon's character.
All the right elements were there, but for me, they didn't quite come together enough. There were specific things I did like quite a bit, but not the film as a whole. And I'm sorry about that, as I did want to like it more. Sally Hawkins was reason enough to watch it, I have to say! :)
shareAh well, it was something of an unexpected letdown for you, and a pleasant surprise for me.
Do you think that factors into your take on it? I would say it does mine. I'd read nothing but criticisms of it, although granted some of it came off to me and ridiculously whiny and silly. For instance the loud cries about how "Hollywood's promoting beastiality!!!1" 🙄 Despite that, my expectations were on the lower side.
You make a good point. My expectations were high, and even partially fulfilled by some aspects of the film. Maybe they were unrealistically high, though? That does happen sometimes, after all. I certainly don't begrudge you or anyone else the pleasure that you found in it; it's always great when a film resonates with the viewer, isn't it?
shareThat's a tough question to answer, most of the time. There was one show I knew my expectations ran sky high on, and I didn't like the show. Not awful, but not good. Doubt my opinion on it would have changed significantly if I hadn't been expecting so much, but it did affect it.
Yes, it's always great when a film resonates ... with someone. Even if that someone isn't you :)
Agreed! :)
sharePlease, this movie was laughable and pathetic. Del Toro is a overrated piece of sh*t.
shareI kinda liked that it didn't explain stuff. It forces us to figure out the details (somebody else pointed out the fish gills and the implication that maybe she's already part-magical creature). It's kinda like playing through Dark Souls.
The atmosphere of the film was great, I thought, and the design of it.
To me, the movie was saying something about outsiders and fear: that was the main theme.
They knew exactly what they wanted, a huge pile of SJW PC garbage with a plot weird enough to get people talking and interested. The movie doesn't need to be good, that wasn't it's purpose, it was meant to be propaganda like so many other recent movies. It was a man hating movie about white male privilege and the bad treatment of women, minorities, and gays. The purpose of the movie is to make you think men are the scum of the earth and you should feel bad if you live a normal life.
And people wonder why this won oscars. Why do you think? Hollywood doesn't care if a movie is good, they care about shaping your mind. The oscars have become nothing more than a propaganda tool.