Very original unlike any other film. Creative, excellent acting.

Although not as scary as I was expecting from a Del Toro movie, it was still entertaining. The storybook-style opening & closing narration, the archetypal characters, and plot made it seem like a modern fairy tale, which Del Toro does very well. I enjoyed it and the pacing never seemed sluggish, especially for a 2-hour movie.

This movie is for mature, open-minded adults who can handle some serious visual shocks. The story is compelling with a faint glow of optimism in a depressingly pessimistic world. The cinematography is masterful and wonderfully contemporary. It loses one star only because of some unnecessarily (in my opinion) graphic violence. If I could have given it another half-star, I would have.

Very good movie. Kind of an aqua version of beauty and the beast! Great acting by all actors and actresses with well defined charactors!