Rating: 3.5 / 5 stars

“The Shape of Water” is a film that if written or directed by anyone else, would likely be a complete paint-by-numbers bore. But writer-director Guillermo del Toro (“Crimson Peak”) elevates the typical genre proceedings into a beautiful fairy tale. Del Toro himself aptly describes the film as “a beautiful picnic of really intense oddity.” The most obvious inspiration for “The Shape of Water” is the 1950s creature-feature horror classic “Creature from the Black Lagoon,” in which a humanoid fish-man is taken out of its Amazonian home to be researched by American scientists.

“The Shape of Water” has a very similar gill-man brought to an underground facility in 1960s Baltimore, where he is met with the cattle prod wielding, All-American, head honcho Strickland (Michael Shannon, “Nocturnal Animals”). Every fairy tale frog needs his fairy tale princess to kiss, and our amphibian friend finds his in the movie’s protagonist Elisa (Sally Hawkins, “Maudie”). Elisa is mute and communicates entirely through sign language – mostly to her African-American coworker and friend, Zelda (Octavia Spencer, “Hidden Figures”) and her older gay neighbor, Giles (Richard Jenkins, “Kong: Skull Island”). Along with Dr. Hoffstelter (Michael Stuhlbarg, “Call me by Your Name”), a scientist with some secrets of his own, the rag-tag band of rebels hatch a plan to break the creature out of the facility and free from the sadistic Strickland.

Strickland represents everything that could have gone wrong about “The Shape of Water.” He abuses the shackled creature, sexually harasses Elisa and lives in suburbia with his wife, two kids and a new Cadillac. He is an absolute caricature of a 1960s patriarchal villain. But Michael Shannon’s performance and the writing by Del Toro brings added complexities to Strickland, he is almost a tragic character by the end. This quiet complexity in an otherwise predictable genre flick is what makes “The Shape of Water” special. Each character feels like they are the protagonists of their own movie.

Another aspect elevating this film from a decent genre film to an all around wonderful movie is the cinematography of it. “The Shape of Water” is filled with vivid colors and interesting compositions. The dingy underground facility looks and feels like a whole different world than Elisa’s green-tinted apartment. The soundtrack is beautiful French symphonies and inspired by golden era movie musical melodies.

The second half of the film includes some of the best, but also some of the worst, moments the film has to offer. At its worst, the second half feels meandering and episodic. One episode is a scene where the waiter Giles is trying to hit on reveals himself to be both a homophobe and a racist seems like something out of a show on the CW. But at its best, the second act has more time to devote on the relationship between Elisa and the Amphibian Man. It is surprising how beautiful and tender the inter-species relationship feels at times, rarely does the idea of fish romance seem gross or creepy, which is an accomplishment in its own right.  “The Shape of Water” is at its best when it completely envelops us in the relationship between these two outsiders.

“The Shape of Water” is often inconsistent in quality but overflowing in imagination. It is a retread of familiar ideas told in beautiful new ways.

Image from FOX Searchlight via YouTube.com