"The Shape Of Water" Review - Poetry With A Splash of Magic

I ended the year right. “Shape Of Water” is one of the biggest tour de forces of 2017. Del Toro has blessed the movie screens many times before, but this is what will put him in the history books.

This movie is a work of imagination and art wrapped beautifully in one full platter. The story is as simple as time that echoes off of films like E.T and Wall-E, yet somehow manages to stand out amongst every other film I’ve seen this year. It’s helmed by the funny yet captivating Sally Hawkins, along with frightening and powerful performances by Richard Jenkins, Michael Shannon, and MOTHERF***KING DOUG JONES (just look him up, he deserves all the praise). It’s filmed with grace and beauty as Del Toro always seems to do, with shots that are filled with magic, colors, beauty, and style, to make a story that on the surface is so cliche, become a fairy tale right in from of your eyes. On top of that, the score to this is lush as a skate across the ice, and is one of Alexandre Desplat’s best scores in years.

The movie has very odd moments, I will not lie about that. I’m not saying that because I hated those moments, I’m just warning you because a creature falling in love with a human may not be your cup of tea. While it is mainly a horror film, it’s also filled with lots of romance, comedy, and brilliant themes and moments that resonate with your mind. You have to embrace the beastly moments with the beauty, which should hopefully be easy for most people. This is a piece of work that I know will not get appreciated as much, almost like how “La La Land” didn’t get as much respect as it deserved last year from audiences. People want to find something to complain about no matter how perfect a film is. The more perfect it is, the more people will try to rip it apart. It happened with “La La Land”, and I know it’ll happen with “Shape of Water”

This is a work of genius and art given to us, and everyone needs to embrace it in it’s fullest form, because you rarely get a masterpiece as spectacular as this one. Something you can love, something you can appreciate, and something you can rewatch over and over again. Dive in.

Two Nebs Up!