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Hey folks, I’m Max.
Catch me on Twitter at LazyMovieNerd.
I watched a romantic movie and enjoyed myself!
The Shape of Water.
Water.
W-A-T-E-R.
The Shape of Water.
Whatever.
You can understand what I’m saying…
Maybe…
The Shape of H2O is a romantic drama / fantasy movie written and directed by Guillermo del
Toro.
You know him as the guy who made Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy, and Pacific Rim.
He’s got his own unique style of filmmaking and it’s on full display in this movie.
The plot of this film is straightforward and obvious.
It takes place during the cold war.
A woman who works in some secret military installation falls in love with a sea monster.
I’m sure you can guess the rest.
This movie is not about plot.
That’s predictable and unexciting.
This movie is about everything else, and this everything else is awesome.
What we have here is mostly brilliant attention to detail.
Every scene, every dialogue, every character serves to underscore some aspect of life and
of some sort of commentary.
It shows life during the cold war era and it points out things like family life and
values, racial relations, even homosexuality.
Really, the plot about the merman is just a vehicle for exploring society and questioning
some moral values that may or may not be still valid today.
There are a number of sub-plots that don’t get a lot of screen time, but don’t feel
like they’re unnecessary.
They add depth and humor.
I’m not gonna say more as I don’t want to give away spoilers.
The creature, merman, monster, man from the ocean.
It looked to me like it was mostly all practical effects – a guy in a suit – with some
CG added later.
It looked realistic and authentic.
He pretty much is the creature from the lagoon or Hellboy’s sidekick.
A variation on a theme.
Beautifully done.
Doug Jones was the guy in the suit.
Because he is always the guy in the suit.
What Andy Serkis is to motion capture, Doug Jones is to rubber suits.
The main female character is played by Sally Hawkins.
Folks, she is awesome.
You know that I love the word awesome.
Because it’s awesome.
Well she is awesome in this movie.
It’s worth seeing just for her performance.
She sells the emotions and is able to convey them without uttering a single word throughout
the film.
The bad guy is played by Michael Shannon, who is a great actor when he’s not General
Zod.
He sells the *** persona perfectly and isn’t a caricature or a cardboard villain.
He was fun to watch.
I actually kind of rooted for him for a while.
Richard Jenkins plays the main supporting character.
If anyone, aside from Sally Hawkins, deserves some award here, it’s him.
He was funny, authentic, and loveable.
Probably the most realistic character of all.
He was jolly, but with an undertone of sadness and loneliness.
A brilliant performance.
There are also brilliant performances by Octavia Spencer and Michael Stuhlbarg, but I won’t
go into details, because I may spoil plot details if I try.
The authenticity of the visuals in this movie is simply superb.
The way Stranger Things feels like you’re actually in the 80s, that’s how this movie
makes you feel that you’re actually in the early 60s.
The cars, the TV shows that are referenced, and more.
There’s a lot of comedy here.
The only main complaint that I have about the movie is the unnecessary nudity and sex
scenes.
I’m not trying to be a prude.
OK, I am.
But I think that a PG13 rating would have suited this film better.
Making it R cuts out some of the audience, in my opinion.
So, if you don’t mind some *** and sex scenes, then definitely see this movie because
it’s brilliant!
That’s it.
Click the thumbs up button because you’re awesome and subscribe to my channel if you
think I’m awesome.
I’m Max and I’ll see you later!