@Rtodd110 said:

It was a good movie. Del Toro has a great eye for visuals and solidly developing his characters. Saying that, the one thing that was surprising, was the lack of development of the love story. There were a couple scenes where she spent time with the creature in the facility, but nothing enough to really show their "connection". It was rushed and by the time it transitioned to the break out scene I found myself wondering why she cared so much. It is a strange idea to begin with and I was expecting the relationship to be the strong point to bring the story home. I think they failed and by doing so, ruined the premise.

still good, but I was rolling my eyes in certain scenes towards the end. I was surprised because del toro is usually great at establishing his other worldly premises. Here, I think he focused too much on the social themes and side characters, rather than actually giving us a convincingly twisted romance.

I totally agree with this. I felt a little mollified in the end by the seemingly abrupt romance. SPOILERS Since apparently she was one of his race. The slashes were gills and they had even said that she was discovered by the orphanage by the river. So a species mating draw sorta sheds some forgiveness on the development. Never the less, the later half of the movie suffered from some ludicrous scenes and foolishness. Some heavy handedness nearly ruined a decent movie. 7/10

Subjective question...

Is it closer to the level of Pan's Labyrinth or to the level of Crimson Peak? In terms of general quality and movie experience...

@Renovatio said:

Subjective question...

Is it closer to the level of Pan's Labyrinth or to the level of Crimson Peak? In terms of general quality and movie experience...

I have not seen Crimson Peak so I cannot measure by it but Pan's Lab is certainly a better film than SoW as regards writing and directing.

SoW has the standard del Toro look and is top notch in that way. It starts off with a nice quaint feel steeped in authentic 50-60's style. It is sort of a fairy tale in alternating brutally realistic (in oft too heavy handed a manner) and absurdist, nearly children's tv show narrative. Many of the complaints I accumulated while watching the film were dissolved by the time it was over. It does tie up some things that seemed like flaws. Never the less, remove three or four scenes and this would be a 8.5/10 for me instead of 6.5 or 7/10

It's good. Worth watching but flawed.

Thanks... I was planning to check it out in theare if it gets shown in my town... Otherwise, I'll rent it...

@Renovatio said:

Subjective question...

Is it closer to the level of Pan's Labyrinth or to the level of Crimson Peak? In terms of general quality and movie experience...

it's a LOT better than crimson peak. stronger plot and more nuanced.

i don't have any issue with the way the romance developed, as in real life sometimes two individuals do form an instant and intimate connection. they just accept each other. i thought that came across quite realistically.

i do agree that some of the latter scenes were heavy handed, but maybe that is in keeping with being a fairy tale.

I guess it's an alright movie but I don't really understand the Oscar buzz. It's basically Free Willy with a touch of some other movies. The creature is also basically Abe Sapien from the Hellboy movies. Del Toro has directed at least 5 other movies I enjoyed more than this one.

i don't get the oscar buzz either. same applies to finest hour. i think this year has been a bit weak for outstanding films. having said that, i hope get out does well.