Hmmm... didja miss the point?!?

Rating: 9/10 (16 August 2004)

OK... we've all read some of these comments for the latest of M. Night Shyamalan's films.... Seems that people either love it or loathe it... Many offer up reasons that we should do either option - leaving no middle ground....
My advice? Drop all expectations and notions at the door. Go into this movie without all the hype or hatred this film has garnered.
As for many comments posted around:
* * * POSSIBLE SPOILERS INVOLVED * * *
So what if the plot twist was easy to see for some.... I knew it in 20 minutes and found a few supporting items along the way.... the doctor's glasses, a line of dialogue about a sister being raped and murdered in an alley 3 blocks from home, certain other aspects of the dialogue...... Just go in like an innocent child and decide for yourself.
M. Night may very well be attempting to be the next Hitchcock, and he's got a lot of his characteristics down - making suspense thrillers, appearing in small cameos, etc.... He is NOT trying to make horror films, any more than Hitchcock was... they're into the suspense... letting the plot and the actions 'scare' you... Expecting a horror monster movie - go see 'AvP'.
As for the dialogue sounding 'flat' to some - remember, this is a 20th/21st century 'scholar' (he's a teacher, remember?) and his concept of what the language would be.... And, recall, that many of these people were 20th/21st century people.... So, they can only ASSUME what the verbage and words would be....
To the ones that bring out about how everything looks fresh and new and yet you assume that the 'Village' has been around for at least a generation... Get real! Given the 'twist', and how most of the items are only about 30 years old, it makes perfect sense that the items would not be threadbare and ruined.... And, if you need proof of the timeline, look again at the picture of the 'elders' outside the counseling center... That is a decidedly mid/late 70's Ford in the foreground.... I'm a car buff, so I knew THAT one right away.... Also, given the potential money that the Walker family had, it is completely plausible to have many of these items made and in as-new condition. But, again, if you were paying attention to the details, you'd have caught it... One look at the glass of the buildings and the plates in the opening feast scene show you that they're made with modern technologies and NOT from the late 1800s.... So, you either chalk them up to 'continuity errors' or you think about them.... See above for other examples (doctor's glasses, for example....)
This movie was made to make you THINK. It was NOT meant to be a late summer BLOCKBUSTER of a film.... That's not what M. Night is all about.... He's far more subtle than that....
MY OPINION - and it is just that MY opinion:
The movie is very good.... it has a slow point or two, but enough suspense to keep the audience engrossed... Yeah, there are a few plot issues (holes?) that can seem jarring, but many CAN be explained by the twist. Not M. Night's BEST film, but not his worst, either.... And he's got a lot of years left ahead of him....
One final thing to ponder - the 'sounds' of the creatures in the woods.... Do you think that they could the the sounds of the sirens from the ranger trucks or from some trains passing in the distance? I grew up in the Pennsylvania farmlands outside of Philly... And a train that is 10 - 20 miles away could sound very much the same....