Not as bad as people say

Rating: 9/10 (18 July 2008)

Alright, first off, I'm going to go ahead and possibly mark myself as insane and say: I liked this movie. Now, before you dismiss me completely and say I have no sense of movies or characters or what truly defines what should be considered a good movie (or that I will just automatically like anything by M. Night), let me explain.
No, it wasn't terribly scary. No, it wasn't the most easily interpreted movie in the world. No, not everything was laid out nice and neat and perfectly placed. No, it wasn't like so many horror/thriller movies out there that take part in gore-fests and naked screaming girls who are so ridiculously unbelievable that you want to throw popcorn at them.
But then, isn't that a good thing?
Everyone is constantly complaining about a lack of originality in Hollywood's latest plethora of movies, and then when one finally rolls around we write it off as 'stupid'.
Well, I don't think it was stupid. Not at all. It was a classic M. Night movie.
It was more about what 'you' brought to the movie than what he told you straight up. It's all in your head, and that can make a really good movie. I don't think that the actors were poorly cast or 'uninspired' (a word I've heard all too frequently when someone describes this movie). They played the parts as the parts were meant to be played.
Like real people.
They walked around, talked with friends, worried about things without necessarily saying they were worried and showed concern without necessarily voicing said concerns. They reacted in different ways-- which people do-- to an insane and scary situation.
People died in this movie. Everywhere, people died. They killed themselves. Because they couldn't help it. And so what if the cause was plants? It's just as believable-- and much more original-- as if it were the government or some germ warfare. And in the end, it wasn't about the fact that people were killing themselves or that plants were retaliating against mankind's treacherous actions against nature. It was about love. When you boil it all down, it was about love. And maybe the reason so many people don't like this movie is because they either don't understand it, were disappointed it wasn't part of the aforementioned gore-fest, or can't see the importance of reading the signs. Maybe the problem is no one wants to 'think' when they're watching a movie. No one wants to 'interpret' or walk away and mull it over in their minds. But if you don't do that, you lose something.
If you don't like kind of artsy, love-will-conquer-all, have-to-think-about-it movies, you probably won't like this one. But don't worry: there are plenty of people out there who agree with you.