Guillermo Del Toro's new film.

It's a love story between a woman and a... Sea creature?

Now hold on, just wait, hear me out. This doesn't look bad at all. The actors are all good to great. The story definitely looks to carry emotional weight. I'm intrigued.

First trailer:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lA4WD92it0k

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actually it looks quite good.

i was not a fan at all of "crimson peak", but this looks more like what i like from guillermo. he has a way with pathos.

He also has a way with creature design that not many directors could come close to.

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Well, it's definitely better than "Crimson Peak". There are some real strong points to the film. It's clear he wanted to depict a certain era of intolerance. There's racism, sexism, a fear of the unknown. Definitely could be used as a vehicle for progressiveness, especially considering we want to define new "genders".

ultimately, the innocence of del toro wants to make an anti-monster movie. it's "creature from the black lagoon" but a little more romantic, and elegant.

it's a bit pretentious at times, and hawkins' performance is actually pitched above credibility sometimes. like, she's enjoying how good she's playing her character. i never felt the character. i just recognized the acting. and she sure sopped up every moment.

but, there is a heart here. and doug jones does a great job of putting forth an effort of becoming his character. michael shannon is fantastic as the villain...the true monster (del toro's not very subtle). i like that he has an obsession with cheap candy. like, he has this persona of being so professional and everything. but here he is popping candy like a little kid. he even admits to it.

overall, i buy the story and i buy the relationship. it went a little over the top with showing eliza (hawkins) being very...comfortable with herself. especially in the early scenes.

and, for those who hate cats...well, you'll really enjoy one scene in particular. it was a tad tasteless but...eh, i get it.

i liked the movie. but i never really felt a part of it. not like with "pan's labyrinth", where del toro just really let himself go. i don't know that i'd say this was strained. just very familiar. it's not such a bad thing...just not a great thing either.

out of

Finally saw this last night, W_Z does a pretty good job with his review and I agree with most of it. Beautiful cinematography and
sets. Love all the old cars and colors. The movie kind of hits you over the head with the themes but they are very real issues that
have come to the forefront these last few years. The acting was great across the board. Was the whole creature thing strange? Sure,
I guess so, but to me it wasn't off putting at all as I was much more interested in the storyline. I actually thought the costume and
special effects to make the creature seem real were very well done. The ending was a little strange but I wasn't disappointed at all.
A very unique love story to be sure.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami