I think a lot of people are missing the point...

Rating: 8/10 (5 November 2018)

I'm amazed at all the bad reviews for this movie. After reading a lot of them, I've come to the conclusion that there are three types of people that will not like this movie. If you recognize yourself in one of these categories then don't watch this movie. It's not for you.
Firstly, there's the "I'm looking for a bloody/standard science-fiction alien invasion movie" person, then the "I'm offended at anything religious" person, and finally the movie snob type.
To the first group: The point of this movie is not the aliens. In all the reviews I read I found only ONE person who seemed to actually understand this. The aliens story-line is just a vehicle for the actual point. This story is about a man struggling with overwhelming grief and finding his way back to himself and what's left of his family. It doesn't matter whether or not the aliens look "cheesey." They weren't that bad anyway.
The second group: These were the most frustrating reviews to read. The religious undertones don't make this a bad movie. Calm down. All some reviewers can talk about is the "sermon" of this movie. One reviewer talked about how no one would need what he called "divine wisdom" to hit the alien with a bat in defense of his nephew. The message the movie was trying to convey here (that seemed to go miles over the reviewer's head) is that there was a REASON Merrill was so strong. Obviously no one needs to be told to "hit an intruder with a piece of wood." I suppose not everyone is good at interpretation although I think this was fairly obvious. I'm sorry the idea of faith disturbs so many people but just because a movie doesn't line up with your beliefs is no reason to call it bad. The point of the climax of the movie is to make you think not necessarily to make you agree.
To the third group: Some of your complaints are actually valid. Good for you. Yes, it was silly that aliens can travel possibly millions of light-years but can't break down a door. I'm with you. The fact that they can pick up communication on the baby monitor but an army designed and operated radar can't detect anything? Yes I'm with you again. Things like this are why I took off stars. However, there are a few complaints I'd like to comment on.
Some people mentioned that the movie left them with too many questions. They were disappointed that we only saw what happened to this family and never got to see the rest of the world. I feel this is one of the best aspects of the film. The film concentrated on this family because, say it with me, THAT WAS THE POINT. The invasion is not the real focus here (refer to group one above). I really enjoyed the limited focus. It made you feel like you were there with them instead of just an observer.
Some people complained about the "deadpan acting." This fits with the story-line. For many grieving people going through life almost mechanically is all they can manage. Mel Gibson actually does some great work when he, very realistically, has to hold back obvious emotion when he speaks to his children.
Another common complaint was about water being what ultimately saves humanity. There were two kinds of complaints about this. The first was basically along the lines of "that's lame." Refer to group one.
The other kind was something like "why would they invade a planet that was mostly water?" This one has some grounds. I understand where these complaints are coming from. However, I think that the limited perspective is the culprit here. We don't really know much about these aliens. In fact, we know next to nothing. We are only seeing them from the perspective of this family. There could be any number of reasons why the water specifically on Earth harmed them. Or perhaps they had no plans to stay long term and therefore were not concerned about the water. Maybe they were just arrogant. Be open minded. There could be any number of reasons why they would have made that risk. Remember the limited perspective that was supposed to tighten our focus to what was actually the point of the movie. It's a story-telling device. Intentional. This kind of story doesn't have to explain everything. That's the nature of this kind of writing. It leaves you with questions. It's thought-provoking. It's supposed to make you think. It's another aspect of this movie I really enjoyed.
Like most of Shyamalan's movies, his purpose is to convey a deeper message through symbolism. That's not for everyone. Some people just want to watch popcorn flicks with aliens getting there heads chopped off with no message or any ideas that could conflict with their own and nothing to make them think. That's fine. This movie is just not for you.
However, this is very far from a bad movie. I've seen a lot of bad movies and this doesn't even come close. Does it have problems? Yes. Definitely worth watching though. If you can be open minded.