The Village is a very poor movie.

Rating: 1/10 (6 August 2004)

The degradation of M. Night Shyamalan.
'M's' first big hit, The Sixth Sense, is brilliance in movie making. It's spellbinding twists and turns, keep our visual senses captivated. Yet, the follow-ups to his focused genre have neither captivated our attention nor brought us back for a second viewing.
Unbreakable's premise is interesting. Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson's performances were outstanding, yet the entire movie was "muddy". We had to wade through darkened scenes and murky views to feel a sense of the character's burdens rather than allowing the seasoned actors to show us. So much for the follow-up to The Sixth Sense. It left us yearning for something better.
Enter 'Signs'. Again, Shyamalan decided to capture the flavor of the genre by cloaked darkness, smoky light and acute camera angles. Many directors before him were successful with this, yet they maximized the talents of their leading actors. Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix did a great job, for without them the movie would be another dust collector.
2004 witnessed 'The Village'. The premise of a village surrounded by mystery and foreboding danger is not a new one. A small cluster of clapboard houses populated by 'turn of the century' folk is the setting for The Village. This film noir takes us slowly through its script development culminating in a less than successful entertaining experience. The moving picture eroded from gasps to laughter in short order.
Bryce Dallas Howard is a 'not-at-all believable' blind woman. She moved headlong into open doorways, bolted up stairs, ran across fields without stumbling, all the while portraying someone blind. She did a poor job. Shyamalan allowed this, fueling his directorial demise and cementing this career limiting work.
The audience laughed hysterically when Ron Howard's daughter "formed the cross" with out-stretched arms. Humor was not the intent of that scene. In fact, the latter half of the film was peppered with audience laughter when Shyamalan did not wish it. Boredom overtook the viewers due to poor directing and poor acting.
At one point, a cell phone rang in the theater, a woman answered and proceeded to talk to her caller. No one in the audience berated her, as she was more interesting than the movie.
Adrian Brody did a superb job of his portrayal. In the beginning of the film, he allowed us to believe that he was cast as 'filler'. Yet, his character development strengthened, forming the only good performance in The Village.
This could have been a great movie if it weren't for bad directing, bad writing and bad acting.
We, as an audience, are disappointed with M. Night Shyamalan's film, The Village. We will think twice about seeing his next attempt.