On The Shape of Water

Guillermo del Toro may never make another film as good as Pan's Labyrinth (2006). Many filmmakers don't even get close in the first place. The Shape of Water is a set in a world that is similar to Pan's Labyrinth in that it is set around an actual historical event and merges the real world with a dark fantasy. The monsters are real and the dangerous ones are human, not aquatic. It is a little too close to Pan's Labyrinth in what it sets out to do, although the story feels like it deserves to be told and in fact, The Shape of Water could almost be viewed as an extension of the world that del Toro established over a decade ago. In the military, scientific basement there are echoes of Hellboy (2004), as the amphibian man is a distant relative of Hellboy's Abe Sapien, whether purposeful or not. In the same way Tarantino's Vince Vega is meant to have familial connections to a character is Reservoir Dogs (1992). Its the same cinematic universe and this is where The Shape of Water falls; into del Toro's universe. Dark fairytales, which is how fairytales should be.