Quick Reviews: The Shape of Water

After great Reviews and about a dozen Oscar Nominations, do you really need me to Review this?  Well, I am anyways!  Let's see if the hype matches the reality...

During the Cold War, a mute Woman named Eliza works on the Cleaning Staff at some sort of Military Lab/Installation.

With the arrival of a scary man (Michael Shannon- who is way overlooked!) comes a mysterious asset that they want to study.

This guy is not Abe Sapien's brother.  Instead, he's a Fish Man with an implied past similar to a Universal Character.

So are we ever going to get that Creature from the Black Lagoon with Scarlet?  Dark Universe or not, it could still be interesting- assuming it is even necessary at this point.

Our Heroine is initially just curious about the creature, but then starts to feel feelings for it as the men torture it and they both stare longingly at each other.

What will happen to this creature?  Can he be freed from his captivity?

Well, that's kind of obvious, isn't it?  The bigger question: why is he trying to help her?

To find out, watch the Film already!

A good Film.  This should be obvious by now, right?  The Film looks great, feels unique (even if it borrows from other Films) and is just great.  Del Toro knows how to make Films look pretty and colorful (helped by those around him, of course).  His last big Film- Crimson Peak- was also pretty, but just not as interesting as he must have thought it was.  I wanted to like that- I really did!  Likewise, Pacific Rim was fun and great-looking, but fairly-shallow.  Thankfully, Water bucks the trend and manages to be both!  While nowhere near her first role, Sally Hawkins really breaks out in a big way in this Film.  She never speaks (since she's Mute), but she is so good.  You really have to see her.  Likewise, Shannon, Octavia Spencer, Michael Stuhlbarg and Richard Jenkins are all good here too.  It really is a shame that Shannon was overlooked!  The Creature F/X are naturally quite impressive and Doug Jones works his usual magic here.  There's also enough of a look/feel difference for this not to just be Abe Sapien again- in spite of my earlier joke.  The Film just really, really works.  Go see it already! Now, be honest- who hasn't been in this situation? 

Considering the caliber of Director, it should be no surprise that this is good.  On the other hand, he's following his least-critically-successful Films, so good on him for proving people wrong.