Oscar-bait

Rating: 6/10 (26 January 2018)

You cannot hide its many flaws, sure "The Shape of Water" is a cinematic marvel, beautifully shot and brilliantly made, but it screams of Oscar-bait, how much do you want to bet that this film will scoop up at least over half a dozen Oscars at the Academy Awards?
It's unoriginal, just a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, only under different circumstances and a completely different context..., it is a good film, but I refuse to be drawn into it and jump on the hype band wagon.
What was a wonderful part of the film as a whole was Sally Hawkins mute character, the fact that she cannot speak adds another dimension to the story not to mention the romance aspect. Normally acting without being given the ability to speak is a rather daunting prospect, it evokes memories of the old silent films when actors couldn't speak, but Hawkins does a grand job making Elisa empathetic and believable, well done her.
The other cast members were neither here nor there..., Octavia Spencer was given a supporting role that was always guaranteed to land her a Best Supporting Actress nomination (Oscar-bait once again), but in my opinion she hardly did anything noteworthy that makes her deserved of that nomination.
It's becoming more and more apparent that top films are gradually turning to Sci-Fi and Fantasy, utilizing at least some of those genres tropes to make the films more appealing and attractive to the changing cinema audience, suddenly Sci-fi, Fantasy, Superhero and Comic Book genres are all mainstream, whereas in the past only 'geeks' and 'losers' were attracted to them..., how the world changes...
Guillermo Del Toro is an amazingly talented film maker and he has truly shown his worth with "The Shape of Water", it's a dang shame that I couldn't take to it like so many people have.