Shyamalan is the Most Overrated Director Working Today

Rating: 3/10 (30 July 2004)

When I first saw the Sixth Sense, my date and I almost walked out because we were so bored. It was clumsy, not scary, and although partially redeemed by the now famous twist ending, it boggles my mind that it remains so highly regarded, and is often included on "best of" lists aside films far more deserving of the superlative.
With his subsequent movies, Shyamalan has done little but prove that he is indeed a one-trick pony (and it's not even his trick, but Rod Serling's). With the failed Unbreakable, he at least attempted to break new ground, but Signs and The Village both seem desperately designed as crowd-pleasing machines, offering up more of the same slow, creepy atmosphere that seemed to appeal to so many who saw his first blockbuster, with increasingly arbitrary plot twists.
This is an unfortunate situation for any director. The best thing about the Sixth Sense was that it took the audience by surprise, but since it made him so famous, he can never pull off that kind of surprise again. When the viewers expect surprise, how can they possibly be surprised? The fact that he has gone for some kind of "big twist" every time out is, by the fourth time, simply wearying, and ultimately distracting from the gifts he does possess as a director.
Here, his cast suffers as well from his single-mindedness. Where his other films focused primarily on a brooding male protagonist (Bruce Willis and Mel Gibson, respectively), The Village plays as more of an ensemble piece, at least in the beginning, and when the focus does narrow, it does so on a young blind girl. There are a truckload of excellent actors on board, including Ron Howard's talented daughter as the blind Ivy Walker, but the considerable time spent on characterization goes up in smoke the closer we get to the end, which, in Shyamalan's eyes, all things must serve.
I will remember The Village as the only film to which I guessed the ending after seeing only the trailer. And it was my first guess. If he's going to keep making movies, Shyamalan literally needs to give up the ghost. And his self-injected cameos are almost as annoying as Tarantino's. Mark my words: This will tank quickly after opening weekend.