The Amazon's freshwater but whatever

Rating: 8/10 (17 December 2017)

This is an entertaining, even charming fairy tale, if you can suspend not only disbelief but also knowledge and critical faculties.
The story appears to have been inspired by "Creature from the Black Lagoon" although it is a fantasy/romance rather than a horror movie. It has many similarities to Del Toro's "Pan's Labyrinth," so if you liked that movie, you will probably like this one. Like "Pan's Labyrinth" it has a horrific torture scene, but unlike that film also has graphic sex. This is not a movie for persons under 14.
The main theme of this film is the outcast. Set in the early 1960s, it ties together the lives of a variety of social outcasts including the amphibian monster. Del Toro and his crew do a good job creating the setting and mood. The acting and the costumes are stellar. Then why can't they get some basic geographical and historical details right? A creature from the Amazon lives in freshwater, not saltwater. The Soviets recruited Americans to be moles; they didn't somehow graft a Russian into America and have him pass as "Bob." The Bob/Dimitri character was beyond ludicrous (although if he had been presented realistically as an American or as a Soviet double agent his character would have been realistic and more compelling. It's sad because I liked the character). Again Hollywood insults our intelligence. But despite all I enjoyed this film, seeing it as a simple fairy tale on a child's level despite the sex and violence. If you like fairy tales (and I do) you will enjoy it.