Amazing cinematography, music and acting--but too much gore and focus on the villain

Rating: 6/10 (19 February 2018)

I've rarely seen a movie that was so hard to rate.
The cinematography is breathtaking, and so is the music. Pure art! And the actors were all the perfect choice for their characters. You could definitely tell that del Toro had most of them already in mind when the film was just in its planning stages.
However, it's not a flawless movie, and I'm actually not quite sure if it's worthy of all this Oscar hype.
Some scenes could definitely have been more subtle, encouraging the viewer to draw his/her own conclusions. (To name an example (out of many), it's quite clear that the neighbor is gay, and has no romantic interest in the lead character. The scene where he was hitting on the bartender was unnecessary).
Also, too much screen time was dedicated to the villain. Yes, we do understand that he's an evil, evil man, with no respect for any living creatures, (and he has the gross habit of not washing his hands after going to the bathroom!) but these facts were rubbed in our faces over and over again.
Instead, I would have loved to know more about the water creature! Of course, some things about him should still have been shrouded in mystery, but for instance, it would have been delightful to see some more scenes where he and Elisa were bonding (and not in a sexual, but in a sensual way!).
Another thing that irked me was the fact that this film is definitely excessively gore:y. For instance, when the water creature ate the cat, why did we have to see it? You were not supposed to think he was evil for doing it, because it was clear that he didn't know that they were beloved pets (as if it wasn't clear enough, Giles even had to POINT IT OUT). There would be a million ways to tell the audience about it without actually *showing* it.
With this movie, Guillermo del Toro has been accused of plagiarism by multiple sources, and it's not very hard to see why. I haven't seen the play it's supposed to be based on, but the film does indeed have many visual (and musical!) similarities with Amelié (2001)--in the beginning, I was rather certain I was about to see a homage to the film in question, and I think my assumptions were correct. In short, plot-wise, this movie reminds us of things we have seen before, and it wasn't very hard to predict the ending.
To sum it up--I'm a little disappointed, because while it's a breathtaking visual experience (and I can't stop listening to the soundtrack, it's been on repeat since I found it on Spotify!) it comes across as a little flat, and way too shallow (no pun intended).