It’s been over a decade since Guillermo del Toro’s masterpiece, Pan’s Laybrinth, and the director hasn’t come close to showing that level of work since. Yes, Hellboy II was awesome, but del Toro’s dalliance with The Hobbit meant he never finished his trilogy. Pacific Rim was fun, but hardly the kind of stuff you’d expect from someone who wrote and directed one of the best films of this century. Crimson Peak was just…pedestrian. The Shape of Water hearkens back to the kind of horror fairy tales del Toro told with Cronos, the Devil’s Backbone, and Pan, but this first trailer kind of makes it look like “Mute Lady Falls in Love with Abe Sapien”. I’m not feeling the greatness I know del Toro has inside of him. Maybe I’m wrong. It certainly has a deep cast of great character actors. The Shape of Water opens December 8, 2017.
Looks like it’s worth watching and finding out. 🙂
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Now, Widders, I didn’t say I wasn’t gonna WATCH it; just that I actually got to meet del Toro after a Pan screening and I think he’s awesome and I do not feeeeel the awesome emanating from this (and yes that was shameful name dropping).
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I meant me. 🙂 … namedropping is the ultimate in shamelessness. 😀 … and … envious I am, that you got to meet him.
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He’s extremely cool. It was right after Pan so he showed us his notebook with all his Hellboy II sketches. Pan still awes me, and I wish he had another one like that in him. The Pale Man from that film is one of the best movie monsters of all-time.
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Is it possible for your jaw to be hanging open AND for you to be wearing a stupid grin? I’m sorry Dave, but you are SO wrong. This obviously looks a little formulaic, but it also looks like a first-rate dark fairy tale, the kind of thing Del Toro does so well. I am feeling everything, the creature effects, the art direction, the period setting, the music, the mood. I was worried this was going to be a waste of Del Toro’s time, time he could have been devoting to worthier projects, but now I am completely stoked. The man is a god.
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Oh he is not and I have met him so I should know. I am not sold and I want to be wrong but he’s a decade removed from the top of his game.
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I don’t think he is far removed, not even remotely. Putting aside Crimson Peak, he made Hellboy 2 and Pacific Rim since Pan’s Labyrinth, and that’s it, and that jives with his MO of alternating between the highly personal stuff and the ridiculous popcorn flicks. He’s always done that, ever since he followed up Cronos with Mimic. Pacific Rim was awesome for what it was, and I don’t think it’s evidence of a career downturn, just because the material was not heady or deep. Pan’s Labyrinth is the best film of its decade IMO, I’m sure I’ve said that before, but he seems to throw himself into the expensive b movies with a lot of energy and enthusiasm.
I could be wrong. We’ll see when the Shape of Water comes out. There will be no giant robots or monsters to distract from Del Toro’s craft.
As for Del Toro being a god… I’m sure he is far from one, and I should not make such hyperbolic statements. Consider it a measure of how much I love his work.
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