I really wanted to like The Shape of Water. It was very well acted, beautifully shot and the costume/make-up for the Amphibious Man was perfect. But there were a couple of things that bugged me about it a lot and so the movie left me very underwhelmed.
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Elisa Esposito is clearly set up for a big third act reveal that just doesn't happen. Her scars that were obviously going to turn out to be gills, the fact that she was found Moses-style near a river, and her Spanish name all suggested she would turn out to be related to the Amphibious Man in some way. And yet this never materializes, making me question what was the point of the setup. Yes, the Amphibious Man really turns her scars into gills, but what does it mean? Was she an amphibian all along and he "woke up" her vestigial gills, or did he turn regular scars into gills because it felt like a good idea to him? I don't understand why this was left ambiguous and without payoff.
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When we first see the Amphibious Man, he's shot in the gut by Michael Shannon's character after he bit off the fingers. Later we see other bleeding wounds on his fish body. And yet the scientists don't seem to notice he has magical healing powers. All they are concerned about is his breathing organs to utilize them in the space race somehow. Really? You shoot the thing in the gut and the next day it's completely healed and you don't question that and try to harness that healing power for the army? At the end of the movie, when Shannon sees the Amphibious Man get up and heal his wounds, he even exclaims "So you are a god!" Um, yeah. That's not the first time you're seeing him heal like that.
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Am I really supposed to believe there wouldn't be a security camera in the room where they keep the Amphibious Man? There's a whole plot point dedicated to the security camera in the docking bay and yet there's no camera in the room where they keep a creature like that? And no guard in there, either? They just let two cleaning ladies in there completely unsupervised with no security whatsoever?
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The Amphibious Man is supposed to be a river god. Michael Shannon mentions he found him in a river in South America. And yet he needs salt water to survive?
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I didn't really feel the romance between Elisa and the Amphibious Man develop properly. One minute she's feeding him boiled eggs and dancing in front of him with a mop, and the next thing you know she has shower sex with what is essentially a monster. That's a pretty huge leap. And her affection is apparently based solely on the fact that the Amphibious Man doesn't speak and doesn't seem to mind that Elisa is mute as well? Maybe if Del Toro developed that thing I mentioned in the first point about Elisa being an amphibian as well, that would explain their connection properly.
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I don't really get what was the point of Richard Jenkins' character's sub plot about trying to get the painting job with his former employer and trying to pick up the guy at the pie restaurant. Ok, he's gay and photography is taking over painted ads. So what? I don't think the movie needed the extra couple of minutes dedicated to this.
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I also don't get what was the point of Michael Shannon's severed fingers getting sewn back and then rotting away so he rips them off. Was this supposed to represent his character arc or something like that? I thought maybe the Amphibious Man would heal his fingers with his magic powers and use that to endear Michael Shannon (who would then shoot him anyway because he's a bad guy) but no. The fingers had no discernible purpose in the story. By the way, his apparent attraction to Elisa (because she's mute and that turns him on) doesn't really go anywhere, either.
Submitted November 13, 2017 at 01:37PM by Ascarea http://ift.tt/2AFLCEM
