Unintentional

Rating: 6/10 (14 June 2008)

James Newton Howard's score is the best thing about this film. That isn't to say this film totally blows as the majority seems to say. No, this isn't worse than 10,000 B.C. it's tightly directed, and Shyamalan keeps the pace quick and snappy. The progression of events is fast, we get treated to bits of information every so often, music is brooding and fitting for this type of film. So what's wrong? Unintentional or intentional "comedy", I can't tell which for sure, but the fact that the stupidity outweighs 'intentional' and Mark Wahlberg pulling Nic Cage in "The Wicker Man" tells me this film suffers from bad writing and bad acting, making my conclusion to be - unintentional.
Wahlberg is a capable actor, but he's a parody here and he isn't alone. Maybe this is Shyamalan's fault, allowing this from his actors, or his overall direction of actors.
The "shocking" moments, are not all that shocking either. However, Shyamalan's utilization of the landscape is effective, and in my mind the 'greatest' suspense occurred during the very end of the film, which felt less comical and more hard-hitting.
All comedy aside, thinking back on this film, there is certainly a deeper layer that underlies the film. The closest comparison I could think of is The Mist.