The Village...Oh My!

Rating: Null/10 (1 August 2004)

M. Night Shyamalan's makes a Covington that is a 19th-century Pennsylvania village. But this isn't a regular village. It has a "gentle understanding" with the mystical creatures of the surrounding woods: no villager steps into the forest and the creatures stay outside the village. Things start to unfold as secrets are reviled that there is more to these creatures than meets the eye.
It seems everyone was expecting so much going into this film and they were letdown for whatever reason. M. Night Shyamalan had the right idea: a unique plot, a talented cast, and the right atmosphere to match the movie, but the way he developed the film wasn't done well.
The performance by every single cast member was really stunning. Bryce Dallas Howard (Ivy Walker), Joaquin Phoenix (Lucius Hunt), Adrien Brody (Noah Percy) and the rest of the cast had a great chemistry together which worked out well in the end. The chemistry between Bryce Dallas Howard and Joaquin Phoenix stood out in my mind as an overwhelming love story that worked out well in the end. This was a huge plus for the film.
M. Night Shyamalan did an excellent job with the environment which really gave it the perfect mood. I also give him credit for delivering a twist that I highly doubt anyone suspected. Sure, there were flaws and plot holes, but with M. Night Shyamalan's style of directing you could look past these flaws and plot holes and still get a great film of it unless you like to rip apart films, which you could do to any film.
In the end, M. Night Shyamalan made a film that's making people have great discussion over as far as the story and idea goes. The cast, story, environment, and even the humor mixed together to give us an enjoyable movie. It surely wasn't his best work ever, but for what it was, it was a great film, and I was satisfied with the end result.
Story: A+ Acting: A- Visuals: B Cinematography: B Overall: B- (Not an average)