Romantic fairytale. A bit too much sugarcoated and too little drama for my taste. Lovely movie anyway, but not the masterpiece I expected it to be...

Rating: 7/10 (5 August 2018)

A romancic story with a twisted fantasy plot and a few horror elements mixed in for good measure. A mute cleaning lady saves an alien creature from death and hides it from the government, who wants to kill it. Will she be able to protect the alien from harm?
It could have been a big hollywood standard romantic movie, but director Guillermo del Toro mixes in some ingredients usually not found in Hollywood romances, (masturbation, homosexualtity, torture) which makes it only suited for 16 years and older. It could have easily been turned into a movie for all ages though, just like E.T, if the story had been softened a bit. Or it could have been as dark as his earlier masterpiece "Pan's Labyrinth", if the director had gone wild with horror, but the director chooses to compromise and now the end result has become a bit bland. Not a great romance, but not a great fantasy horror either. I fear this movie has fallen prey to the mediocre standards of Hollywood, because it wants to please everyone. And it did, because everybody liked it at the oscars.
Maybe it was supposed to be funny at certain moments, but it didnt make me laugh really out loud once. But it did put a gentle smile on my face though. The story is a bit slow in the middle, that is its biggest flaw. Half an hour could have been cut out easily, without hurting the flow of the story. I really felt that the story lacked suspense and speed in the middle.
Fortunately the ending has got a great climax. But I must be honest about the fact that I dont really understood the hype about this movie. A bit too much sugar and a bit too little drama. That would be my criticism. Lovely movie anyway...having just watched it for the second time...