not Night's best, but good

Rating: Null/10 (5 August 2004)

I really enjoy Night's films because they are more than just "thrillers"; they always have a message to convey. "The Village" delivers on this with it's underlying theme of running from the unknown fear in our lives and trying to control things that, ultimately, we have no control over. The love story between Lucius and Ivy is very sweet but I would have liked to seen it developed more as with the relationships with the other characters. Night has such a splendid cast but I think he wasted their talents. Bryce Dallas Howard (Ivy) was brilliant in her role and I'd like to see her in future endeavors. The movie plods along in the beginning and picks up the pace about 45 minutes into it. I also thought the ending was rather abrupt and left me feeling like there should have been more. Overall, an enjoyable experience but not near the quality of "The Sixth Sense" or "Signs".