Guillermo del Toro's fantastical romance has already been nominated for countless awards.
Is hype justified?
Sally Hawkins - Elisa
Michael Shannon - Colonel Strickland
Roy Jones - The Asset
Richard Jenkins - Giles
Michael Stuhlbarg - Dr. Hoffstetler/Dimitri
Octavia Spencer - Zelda
Nick Searcy - General Hoyt
During the Cold War in Baltimore 1962, Elisa is a mute and bears mysterious scars on her neck.
To make ends meet, she mops the floors of a secret government laboratory.
Co-worker Zelda acts as an interpreter and struggling illustrator Giles is her only friend.
One day, she discovers an amphibious humanoid creature captured from South America by Colonel Strickland.
Could name be in homage to James Tolkan's teacher in Back to the Future?
We're told natives of the Amazon worshipped it as a god.
After Elisa pays creature several secret visits, a strong bond forms.
To gain the upper hand in the Space Race, General Hoyt orders Strickland to vivisect the creature, dubbed the Asset.
To save repetition, let's just call him A.
Undercover Russian spy Dimitri (posing as scientist Dr. Hoffstetler) wants A kept alive but is ordered by his superiors to euphanise it.
Learning of Strickland's plans, Elisa busts A out, with Hoffstetler and Zelda helping out.
At her apartment, A is kept alive by adding water-conditioning chemicals and salt to bathtub.
She plans to release A when the canal opens to the ocean in x amount of days time.
Giles startles A when he catches creature eating pussy and before scarpering in fear, A slashes his arm.
Elisa finds A in cinema and back 'home', his outstretched hand touches Giles' bald head and wounded arm.
The next day, Giles is thrilled to find hair on top and limb healed.
Soon after, Elisa gets very friendly with honored guest.
Is sequence creepy and/or uncomfortable?
Not at all.
Hoyt cranks up the pressure on Strickland demanding subordinate to 'unfuck mess' within 36 hours.
Hoffstetler meets with handlers who open fire, but tailing ass, Strickland blows them away. Before succumbing to his wounds, tortuous techniques forces him to implicate Elisa and Zelda.
Fearing for her life, a terrified Zelda coughs about creature's whereabouts and calendar note at Elisa's place gives Strickland all the information he needs.
Just as Elisa prepares to bid A farewell, Strickland arrives and shoots them both.
A self-heals and slashes Strickland's throat.
Jumping into the canal, A brings Elisa back to life and transforms scars into gills.
Giles' narration infers that just like a fairytale, they lived happily after.
Awww.
Delightful
This had potential disaster written all over it, but boy, was I proved wrong.
Hawkins puts in a brilliant shift and Shannon's unpleasant and often scary asshole does a superb job.
Elisa signing F U C K Y O U to Strickland is among the highlights of subtle humour that is never stupid or cheesy.
The Creature from the Black Lagoon serves as an obvious inspiration for A's design and the ability to heal others and even health deterioration smacks of E.T.
Thinking about it, GDT cuts and pastes elements of Splice.
Here's why.
Asset and Dren are both amphibious.
Dren and Clive become attracted to one another and have sex.
Don't forget, director was one of three executive producers. The others being Don Murphy and Joel Silver.
Fair enough, Vincenzo Natali's 2009 film is a sci-fi horror, but the similarities are undeniable.
Is hype justified?
Sally Hawkins - Elisa
Michael Shannon - Colonel Strickland
Roy Jones - The Asset
Richard Jenkins - Giles
Michael Stuhlbarg - Dr. Hoffstetler/Dimitri
Octavia Spencer - Zelda
Nick Searcy - General Hoyt
During the Cold War in Baltimore 1962, Elisa is a mute and bears mysterious scars on her neck.
To make ends meet, she mops the floors of a secret government laboratory.
Co-worker Zelda acts as an interpreter and struggling illustrator Giles is her only friend.
One day, she discovers an amphibious humanoid creature captured from South America by Colonel Strickland.
Could name be in homage to James Tolkan's teacher in Back to the Future?
We're told natives of the Amazon worshipped it as a god.
After Elisa pays creature several secret visits, a strong bond forms.
To gain the upper hand in the Space Race, General Hoyt orders Strickland to vivisect the creature, dubbed the Asset.
To save repetition, let's just call him A.
Undercover Russian spy Dimitri (posing as scientist Dr. Hoffstetler) wants A kept alive but is ordered by his superiors to euphanise it.
Learning of Strickland's plans, Elisa busts A out, with Hoffstetler and Zelda helping out.
At her apartment, A is kept alive by adding water-conditioning chemicals and salt to bathtub.
She plans to release A when the canal opens to the ocean in x amount of days time.
Giles startles A when he catches creature eating pussy and before scarpering in fear, A slashes his arm.
Elisa finds A in cinema and back 'home', his outstretched hand touches Giles' bald head and wounded arm.
The next day, Giles is thrilled to find hair on top and limb healed.
Soon after, Elisa gets very friendly with honored guest.
Is sequence creepy and/or uncomfortable?
Not at all.
Hoyt cranks up the pressure on Strickland demanding subordinate to 'unfuck mess' within 36 hours.
Hoffstetler meets with handlers who open fire, but tailing ass, Strickland blows them away. Before succumbing to his wounds, tortuous techniques forces him to implicate Elisa and Zelda.
Fearing for her life, a terrified Zelda coughs about creature's whereabouts and calendar note at Elisa's place gives Strickland all the information he needs.
Just as Elisa prepares to bid A farewell, Strickland arrives and shoots them both.
A self-heals and slashes Strickland's throat.
Jumping into the canal, A brings Elisa back to life and transforms scars into gills.
Giles' narration infers that just like a fairytale, they lived happily after.
Awww.
Delightful
This had potential disaster written all over it, but boy, was I proved wrong.
Hawkins puts in a brilliant shift and Shannon's unpleasant and often scary asshole does a superb job.
Elisa signing F U C K Y O U to Strickland is among the highlights of subtle humour that is never stupid or cheesy.
The Creature from the Black Lagoon serves as an obvious inspiration for A's design and the ability to heal others and even health deterioration smacks of E.T.
Thinking about it, GDT cuts and pastes elements of Splice.
Here's why.
Asset and Dren are both amphibious.
Dren and Clive become attracted to one another and have sex.
Don't forget, director was one of three executive producers. The others being Don Murphy and Joel Silver.
Fair enough, Vincenzo Natali's 2009 film is a sci-fi horror, but the similarities are undeniable.
No comments:
Post a Comment