Ride a trick pony too many times and everyone knows the trick

Rating: 2/10 (3 August 2004)

M. Night Shyamalan did one pretty neat piece of work and that was The Sixth Sense. It has proved to be lightning in a bottle, since he has blundered along trying to capture the magic in subsequent efforts and ...in a word...done it badly.
I don't blame him really...Hollywood is so starved for anything really good and perhaps original...that they will do whatever is necessary after the one trick pony has done his trick ( you know made a bunch of cash and gotten a few good reviews)...as long as the cash is right, all is well.
I got the old $20 dollar shaft on this one. I saw the trailers and I was hopeful that the master of the "twist and trick end" would not ride that trick pony to death but would instead make a serious horror or...serious something film.
This film would have made my "thing" (less than one rated) category of super losers except there were a few moments that made me begin to hope that what was very soon painfully obvious was not true. I should have known better for if a little common sense and logic were applied to what was not a trend but just blind (pardon the pun) hope of something ...even a slightly useful something might yet appear.It didn't need to be great but just worthy of the my 20 bucks.
But friends this just doesn't and didn't do it. There were kids in the theater who laughed and booed at a few scenes and I was inclined to join them but I didn't.
So rather than beat a dead horse or a tired trick ending to death allow me to make this short. If you pay real money for this you will not be a happy camper. M. Night should get a grip on his monumental ego and try to make a real movie...He is a darling right now and he can get the bucks and the folks to act. The problem is the lame story and he bares the blame for that; then second, is the lame directing and he...well you know the drill here too. Skip this one! I wish I had done so!