A Twist Too Far.

Rating: Null/10 (22 August 2004)

Ever since Haley Joel Osment uttered the words "I see dead people" in Sixth Sense, it catapulted the Indian born director M Night Shyamalan into mainstream Hollywood. His movies has been blockbuster successes, with the use of paranormal and supernatural going ons in each one of them. It starts off with ghosts in "The Sixth Sense", superhero powers in "Unbreakable" and extra terrestials in "Signs". However it is not this that had made him one of the influentical directors of modern day cinema. It is the use of the unbelievable twist, in which catches the audience unawares. This latter ingredient in his movies can be a serious hindrance for him, since he is continuously will be known as the "twist doctor", and the audiences will be constantly trying to anticipate the massive twist in the movie.
In "The Village", the M Night ingredients are all there. The story is set in quiet isolated village in the olden times. It seems too idyllic, yet a sinister presence is keeping the villagers in their town. It seems that in the woods, which is opposite the village, lives evil monsters which maim and kill livestock and people who angers them. The villagers understood this and never set foot into the woods, in fear of these beasts. However one day, this all changes when one brave fellow, Lucius Hunt feeling that his curiosity has to be satisfied and ventures into the woods. This seems to be a bad idea, since the monsters causes havoc and places fear into the villagers, by skinning some livestock and hanging the carcasses from the porches. This changes the future of the village forever. With this story in the forefront, there is a romantic sub plot developing. This includes a love triangle between Lucius Hunt (Phoenix), the partially sighted Ivy Walker (Bryce Dallas Howard) and the mentally unstable Noah Percy (Adrien Brody).
The actors in this movie are quite good, especially Howard's portrayal of Ivy, and Phoenix's of Lucius. There are good support roles by William Hurt and Sigourney Weaver, and not forgetting Adrien Brody. The cinematography is so atmospheric that you could feel the fallen leaves rustling underneath, as you first enter the woods. You could really feel that you were there.
Spoilers Ahead
Now this is where my criticisms come into this movie review. I felt like that the story was too long and very plodding. Some people like stories to go slow, so that the characters can be developed, but I could not see it. It was going in such a slow pace, that a Skoda could have beaten it in speed. Also there were too many twists in the movie. With the movie being too slow, it is just getting boring after a while, even when you were meant to be surprised by the twist(s).I counted three and to be honest, the final one seemed so unbelievable that i felt like M Night had taken the easy route out of the movie. To be honest, I wish he had a better ending.
In conclusion, if you have time to see a beautifully shot movie with good acting, but not the greatest of stories, then this is the one for you. But remember, anything that is a 12a is not a horror. Just look at The Haunting with Zeta Jones