Guillermo del Toro’s movies are always a treat for the eyes, but his latest effort looks like it’s aiming to tug at the heartstrings as well. The first trailer for The Shape of Water teased a love story of the unlikeliest kind – between a mute cleaner and a humanoid sea creature. Now, we have our best look at the film yet with this red band trailer that teases lots of drama, danger and intrigue to come.
We learn that the creature is “the most sensitive asset ever to be housed” at a secret facility in the 1960s. So naturally, Michael Shannon’s boss Colonel Strickland is not happy when Sally Hawkins’ Elisa smuggles the monster out. Not happy is putting it a bit lightly, actually, as the trailer shows that Strickland will stop at nothing in order to get his secret weapon against the Soviets back under lock and key. The trailer also gives us our best look at the creature to date… And it might ring some bells for del Toro’s faithful fans.
Yes, though the filmmaker’s plans for Hellboy III fell through, with the project being swapped out for a straight-up reboot instead, The Shape of Water does seem to be spiritually connected to that aforementioned series. After all, there’s more than a hint of Hellboy’s pal Abe Sapien about the creature in this movie and it’s even the same actor under all those fins and scales – del Toro’s go-to monster man, Doug Jones.
On the whole, The Shape of the Water is, er, shaping up to be a must-see movie that blends classic monster features like King Kong and Creature of the Black Lagoon with a fairy tale quality straight out of Beauty and the Beast. Let’s hope it lives up to these trailers when it arrives on December 8th.