Engrossing but imperfect

Rating: 9/10 (14 June 2008)

The reviews for this film have been embarrassingly bad, just as they were for "Lady in the Water" and "The Village." For my money, they were deserved for "Lady" but completely off the mark here.
Despite what detractors are saying, the leads turned out some solid performances and Shaymalan shows an interesting blend of restraint and gratuitousness. He demonstrates that he can create and maintain tension while revealing the disturbing visuals that he avoided so carefully in Signs and he crafts an environmental disaster movie that required no flashy special effects.
Thematically, this continued Shaymalan's common theme that nobody is an island - everyone is connected to the world around them. This was also Shaymalan's most overtly topical film, unless you believe "The Village" was about the post 9/11 Bush administration.
There were, of course, some mis-steps, especially the overuse of wind as a potential threat.
Overall, this is worth a look if you are a Shyamalan fan. If you did not like "Signs" or "The Village," then this is not for you.