Indeed, the result of all this needless filler is that the first half of the movie feels curiously undernourished in the action department. Given that the movie begins with a snappy montage summarising the state of affairs, and then dives straight into a thrilling sea-side fight scene, it seems like del Toro has his pacing nailed down pat. That the film then slows down to gas for a good half-hour is a dispiriting mood-killer that the film doesn't properly recover from until around the half-way point, at which stage the film finally delivers on its big-scale mayhem by way of several epic showdowns. Still, in a film running over 2 hours, keeping the first half so light on action - as well as anything intriguing that might happen in place of it - is a huge mistake, giving the film a hugely bloated, overstuffed feel.