The movie has no sense of balance. It tries to do too much and doesn't do enough of what it does very well.

Del Toro seems to always insist on R ratings--which so far sunk his Lovecraft adaptation AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS from happening. He likes to mix ugly and fantasy--sometimes this works, this time it doesn't.

In this case you have rather graphic nudity and violence mixed in with Spielberg type elements. Or maybe it's just that the design and performance of the fishman looks like skinny guy in a Ok monster suit.

Mix this up with Cold War crisis and artificial period ambience and a frustrated gay sub plot and what do you have, I guess like water is has no shape and pardon the pun but a snail-like pace.

Other problem is the villain is overdone, it'd be more interesting if the villain wasn't one dimensional.

Oh and did I mention the musical scene? It's a bold idea executed in a flat fashion that is unintentionally funny--or like too much of the film it wants to have it both ways, be funny but true in spirit, ugly but fantastical.

Del Toro's English films often suffer from clunky dialogue, this one does too and mixes in too much modern foul language for the period story.

Yeah what are all these things doing in one movie? Adding up to a movie that doesn't work.