Shamalamadingdong

Rating: Null/10 (7 October 2004)

Yes it look great, yes it is an amazing idea and a bold statement about America and how we do isolate ourselves in fear. However, for M. Night to fully express these ideas, he must engage us with the story, not the set-up.
"Signs" was the turning point in M. Night's better judgment, I think. It was a story about religion, family, and supernatural fear. But then it got itself mixed up with Sci-Fi corn. The payoff should have been in the characters' decisions alone, not seeing the alien with the rubber suit on.
So with "The Village" M. Night wants to be preachy. But he cant admit it. He hides true ideas with the suspense of a monster movie. As it played out, it was a film that was not enjoyable and too conscious of itself. This dampens performance and emotion and even an innovative surprise ending does not make up for the pain most common audiences felt during "The Village" Good try Mr Night but when its all said and done it sounds like Shama-lama-dingdong.