7. First Half Lacks Action
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.