I benefited a lot from revisiting it.

Rating: 9/10 (2 April 2008)

I saw this film a few years ago and remembered a few scenes, but not the majority of it. The one big problem being that one of the things I did remember was the twist. So going through this re-watch it all seemed very, very obvious but that probably has a lot to do with the fact that I knew what it was. Either way, it's a good story; compelling and incredibly unique that I was able to enjoy a lot. I quite enjoyed Shyamalan's use of the color red (his use of colors in all of his films is quite extraordinary, really). The twist is a good one and adds a lot of depth to the characters, especially Malcolm, obviously. I really like the idea of him being around for the sole purpose of helping Cole learn to live with his sixth sense after being killed a year ago because he failed to help someone with the same gift. That's the twist that really made an impression on me and stunned me for a second; the fact that the man who murdered him was such a nutcase and killed him due to the fact that he had the same gift Cole has and Malcolm couldn't help him with it. I liked that complexity in the character a lot. Some of the scenes are very melodramatic and overdone and I really, really hated the editing (it was just too abrupt and out of place) but overall I thought it was compelling and the ambiance was very well structured. Toni Collette was pretty great also, especially in her final scene where Cole tells her about his gift; she was really heartbreaking there and had my eyes watering up. I think Shyamalan's masterpiece comes in his next feature, Unbreakable, but this is still a solid film that I'm glad I revisited.