Review #1,415: 'Crimson Peak' (2015)

If you were to task both critics and general audiences with naming their favourite active directors, I would place a bet on Guillermo del Toro being the first name on the lips of many. The Mexican monster-lover has the unique ability to juggle both passion projects that clearly mean a lot to the filmmaker, and large-scale blockbusters to appease the studios, and this one-for-me, one-for-you approach has allowed to him to bring to the screen some incredibly personal stories which would have otherwise been left to linger in the director's imagination. So for every The Devil's Backbone, we got a Hellboy, and for every Pan's Labyrinth, we got a Pacific Rim. 2015's Crimson Peak was del Toro's first attempt at blending these two styles. Movie lovers could admire the breathtaking visuals and attention to detail, while the general audience could enjoy a juicy gothic mystery featuring some of the industry's most attractive stars. The result is a very mixed bag.

In turn-of-the-century New York, heiress Edith Cushing (Mia Wasikowska) dreams of becoming an author, but finds herself dissuaded at every turn by the men holding the power. Her father, wealthy businessman Carter (Jim Beaver), is visited by English travelling salesman Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston), who is seeking investment for his clay-mining machinery. The dashing bachelor is shut down by Carter, but catches the eye of Edith, and two begin a romantic affair. When Carter dies, Edith marries Thomas and travels to his home Allerdale Hall in Cumberland, a decaying mansion dubbed 'Crimson Peak' due to the red clay oozing up from the ground. Joining them will be Thomas' ice-cold sister Lucille (Jessica Chastain), who seems to harbour a resentment for her brother's new wife. But Crimson Peak has stories to tell, and Edith's unexplained connection to the spirit world means that she is frequently visited by hideous tormented ghosts carrying warnings. Back in the U.S., former suitor Dr. McMichael (Charlie Hunnam) is conducting his own research into the Sharpes and their shady history.

Del Toro has always excelled at building tangible worlds which seem to live and breath alongside the characters, and the rotting interiors of Allerdale Hall is one of the director's greatest achievements. Lush with exquisite detail, the house pulses with menace, tormenting Edith with locked doors and taps that spurt red before running clear. There's even a hole in the ceiling that allows snow to gather at the bottom of the main staircase, and the splashes of bold colour evoke the likes of Mario Bava, Dario Argento and Hammer. It's a feast for the senses, and it's just enough to distract from the mediocrity of the main story and the inclusion of CGI spectres. The mystery unravels quite beautifully, but the problem is that you'll already be two or three steps ahead. Nothing that happens in Crimson Peak will come as a surprise, especially after you've quickly realised that anyone with an English accent can't be trusted. The film loses its physicality somewhat when attempting to deliver the scares, as twisted ghosts crawl and squeal their way towards Edith. Computer-generated apparitions will never be scary, and Crimson Peak packs way more impact when catching you off guard with moments of extreme violence that will make you wince and cry out without averting your gaze. Rank this somewhere above Pacific Rim and below Hellboy II.


Directed by: Guillermo del Toro
Starring: Mia Wasikowska, Tom Hiddleston, Jessica Chastain, Charlie Hunnam, Jim Beaver, Burn Gorman
Country: Canada/USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,317: 'The Shape of Water' (2017)

Guillermo del Toro's latest immersive fantasy spectacle began life as a remake of one of the Mexican director's favourite movies of all time - the iconic monster movie Creature from the Black Lagoon. When he pitched his plans to Universal, perhaps as part of their troubled 'Dark Universe' franchise which kicked off last year with spectacular misfire The Mummy, he wanted to tell a love story between the Gill-Man and a woman from the perspective of the titular creature. This idea, which sounds like a dream for film buffs but a turn-off for studio executives, was rejected outright, presumably being for too risque for mainstream audiences. Del Toro stuck with it anyway, and the script turned into The Shape of Water. Would the same film have nabbed the Best Picture at this year's Academy Awards if it was titled Creature from the Black Lagoon? I think not, so it worked out well for everybody apart from Universal, who are probably still licking their wounds from last year's Tom Cruise-starring horror show.

The Shape of Water tells the story of Elisa Esposito (Sally Hawkins), a mute lady who lives in an almost dreamlike apartment above a barely-used cinema called The Orpheum. We quickly learn everything we need to know about her in a wonderfully edited opening sequence, in which she boils eggs, masturbates in the bath, and pays a visit to her neighbour Giles (Richard Jenkins), all before heading off to a top secret government facility where she works as a cleaner. Giles spends most of his time alone with his cats in his apartment, paying the bills by drawing product advertisements, occasionally venturing out to buy pies from a nearby diner and lust after the young man behind the counter. Elisa's best friend and co-worker Zelda (Octavia Spencer) saves her a space in the queue for the clocking-in machine every morning, and has learned sign language so the two can chit-chat whilst carrying out their mundane job of cleaning piss up off the floor and, much to Zelda's befuddlement, the ceiling.

This is 1962 America, where the happy (and white) nuclear family is the very definition of achieving the American dream, but also where minorities are still looked down upon. It's no accident that Elisa, who rarely stops smiling even when she is treated differently for her affliction, is closest to and most comfortable around a gay man and a black woman. The arrival of a strange amphibian humanoid from a swamp in South America and the loving bond it gradually forms with Elisa represents a threat to this very American way of life, at least in the eyes of Richard Strickland, a brutish military official who caught the creature, played with sheer menace by Michael Shannon. Strickland wants to cut the creature open to learn if its abilities can be forged into some kind of weapon, and to keep it out of the hands of the Soviets. Mild-mannered scientist Robert Hoffstetler (Michael Stuhlbarg) wants to keep it alive for further study, but Strickland is given the green light by his superior.

What follows is a daring break-out and Elisa's efforts to keep the stranger hidden in her apartment. The story isn't exactly ground-breaking, and you can probably work out where the film is heading quite early on. However, The Shape of Water isn't a film about surprises and twists, but a strange tale of forbidden love to utterly immerse yourself in. Most directors would struggle to capture a sex scene between a beautiful woman and a slimy fish man with a straight face, but del Toro somehow makes the whole thing feel natural, and most importantly, incredibly beautiful. Longtime del Toro collaborator Doug Jones does some stellar physical work as the creature, forging a chemistry with Hawkins without the benefit of facial expressions or dialogue, relying on otherworldly howls and the odd bit of sign language to communicate. It warrants comparison to del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth, and although it's not as good as the 2006 Oscar-winning masterpiece, it shares much of its creepy magic and vintage character design, and also reflects on a country's troubled past. It's the riskiest and best work del Toro has done since. Suck in a deep breath and take a plunge.


Directed by: Guillermo del Toro
Starring: Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins, Octavia Spencer, Michael Stuhlbarg, Doug Jones
Country: USA

Rating: *****

Tom Gillespie

Review #671: 'Pacific Rim' (2013)

There has always been a clear distinction between director Guillermo del Toro's art-house Mexican productions and his more audience-pandering Hollywood movies. Not just in quality, but also in tone. His native efforts have produced the haunting The Devil's Backbone (2001) and his masterpiece Pan's Labyrinth (2006), which both leaned towards the director's love of fantasy and folklore as well as meditations on war and childhood. Pacific Rim, his latest big-budget Hollywood production (following cancellations and delays on his work on The Hobbit and At the Mountains of Madness) is probably his most 'Hollywoody' to date. It's big, loud, stupid, but also quite fun, with del Toro harking back to his childhood days watching Japanese kaiju movies.

Earth is under attack from giant monsters dubbed as 'kaiju', who rise out of the Pacific Ocean from a portal to devastate anything in their path. Humanity fared well in their war against this new threat, building giant robots named 'Jaegers' to battle the kaiju's, until the attacks became more frequent, and the monsters larger and deadlier. The Jaeger's need to be powered by two pilots - one to represent the left side of the brain and the other the right. But the pilots are also required to be 'drift compatible', as once in the 'drift', they share each other memories, instincts and pain. We first meet ace pilot Raleigh (Charlie Hunnam) battling a kaiju with his brother. His brother is killed, and Raleigh is washed up on shore and helps in the construction of a giant wall to keep the creatures out.

Four years later, and the Jaeger programme is being shut down. Stacker Pentecost (Idris Elba), the commander of the Jaeger's, takes the programme underground. He persuades Raleigh to re-join the programme, and introduces him to Mako (Rinko Kikuchi), a beautiful woman who clearly shares a link to Stacker. Also working on the programme are comic relief characters Dr. Geiszler (Charlie Day) and Gottlieb (Burn Gorman), two bickering scientists who are studying the kaiju and their emergence in different ways. Raleigh demands to be teamed up with Mako, who he is clearly drift compatible with, and the two must learn to work together before the final assault.

It's a lot of plot to take in, but this has a hefty 131 minutes to explore it in. Del Toro manages to create a lot of back-story that is crammed in to the twenty minute prologue, but it's all a lot of twaddle to give the movie a reason to stage some gargantuan action scenes. With a movie like this, you come to see the action. We want to see giant robots smash the shit out of giant monsters, and del Toro certainly delivers on that front. There's no elegance in the fighting; they just pummel each other with giant fists and, every now and then, some acid and giant saws. Cities are devastated, thousands are (presumably) killed and tourist sites are made out of the results. The CGI is frankly astonishing, and watched in high definition especially, the film looks beautiful.

Yet as much genuine heart del Toro puts into the action scenes, he fails wholeheartedly in the moments in between. There is no character development and no original plot devices, just another messiah story with a heavy section in the middle dedicated to the preparation for the moment everyone is waiting for. This is as soulless as they come, and although its easy to say that the lack of plot and character is expected of a film like this, the movie doesn't have any star power to add any charisma to the proceedings. Independence Day (1996), as much as I detest the film, at least had Will Smith to keep us amused between the sickening lashings of cheddar, and Armageddon (1998) had Bruce Willis. Pacific Rim has Idris Elba, who certainly tries his best with his Henry V speeches and dashing suits, but he's second fiddle to Charlie Hunnam, who just doesn't cut the mustard.

There's also the distraction of Day and Gorman, who are undoubtedly the most annoying and unfunny comic-relief double-act since those twin racial stereotypes in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009). The reason for their existence points to giving del Toro's favourite actor Ron Perlman a reason to be in the film, and although Perlman's presence is always welcome, his sub-plot proves to be a distraction to the central storyline. Perhaps del Toro simply needed to make a movie after a few years of delayed and failed projects, so a little self-indulgence can certainly be forgiven, especially if the results are as entertaining as this. But it just begs the question of why del Toro doesn't put the same heart into his mainstream movies as he does his arthouse films.


Directed by: Guillermo Del Toro
Starring: Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Rinko Kikuchi, Max Martini, Robert Kazinsky, Charlie Day, Burn Gorman, Clifton Collins Jr., Ron Perlman
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie