I'd looked forward to this film

Rating: 1/10 (8 August 2002)

Let me start by saying that I really enjoyed "Sixth Sense" and had high hopes for M. as a filmmaker. I also loved "The Fast Runner" so I obviously have no problem with slow-paced films. I thought Spielberg's "Close Encounters" was some of his best work, so there should be no doubt that I have no problem with the theme of alien abduction/invasion. And, yes, I generally enjoy Mel Gibson. Though I don't think he is necessarily a great actor, he definitely has enjoyable screen presence and I've seen him nail some scenes (Danny Glover seemed to bring out the best in him).
That said, let me also say, "M. what were you thinking?" Actually, I think I know what you were thinking. You were thinking, "Everybody loves me and tells me I'm the next Spielberg, so it must be true." Ego, my boy, is the surest way I know to create bad film...and this was (in my opinion, mind you) truly bad film. And no, you can't really hide the fact that you have your ego rather heavily invested in everyone else thinking you are the next Spielberg when you use the LARGEST TYPEFACE in all of your credits for the one immediately following the fade out that read, AN M. NIGHT SHYAMALAN FILM...just in case we had forgotten. There is also that matter of placing yourself in front of the camera as the veterinarian who had killed the wife, showing us all how well you can emote...which ain't so much. Keeping your head down and looking remorseful does not constitute acting.
Honestly, M., were you making a sly spoof of the genre or were you just incompetently ripping off the films that influenced you? Did you think it was clever to only show the alien in soft focus? Can you really imagine that a family that has locked itself in the basement away from a bunch of hostile aliens would simply turn off their flashlights and go to sleep? Do you think anyone would be able to sleep if they thought the end of the world was at hand?! One more...and be honest about this...did you really just make this movie to sucker us all into the theatre on the pretext of seeing a fun, scary film only to pull the old bait-and-switch routine with your particular religious hysteria? I suspect you've been reading a bit of Deepak Chopra, judging by the sudden introduction of the synchronicity theme at the end (Mel Gibson chanting, "There are no coincidences, there are no coincidences"). What did that have to do with anything? I can think of no explanation than that you had in mind the whole time to razzle-dazzle us with alien-created crop circles (which you, inexplicably, decided to rename crop "signs") only to sucker punch us with a simplistic and bland pseudo-spirituality at the end. The whole thing reminded me of a Scientology pitch.
Wait a minute...is M a Scientologist? That could explain a lot. For example, it could explain why he threw in the crackpot writer on aliens who is really the one who knows what is going on. Come to think of it, there is even a bit of naming pattern evident here: L. Ron Hubbard / M. Night Shyamalan. Hmmm... Though really, did we need a kid reading a book to tell us that if the aliens are hostile there are one of two possible outcomes--they win or we win? That's usually the case in those situations. Even "Independence Day" paid the courtesy to our collective intelligence to assume that we would figure that out for ourselves. Just because Mel Gibson's character had lost his faith doesn't mean he had turned into an imbecile, too. Worse, you seem to think your audience is stupid. Well, I was stupid enough to pay to see the movie...but I won't be stupid enough to see another picture that includes the overblown (literally and figuratively) title: AN M. NIGHT SHYAMALAN FILM. For this I thank you: you've saved me about ten bucks in the future.