Aside from Bryce Dallas Howard's stunning debut, this is a major letdown from Shyamalan, definitely his worst

Rating: Null/10 (22 August 2004)

Before I start let me just say that I am a fan of M. Night Shyamalan. 'The Sixth Sense' was the most frightening movie experience I've ever had, 'Unbreakable' had a terrific slow buildup to a glorious climax and ending (with great performances too) and with 'Signs', his best movie, he created wonderfully realistic characters before getting into the horror parts of the story. He is one of the most interesting filmmakers today, and one of the best thriller directors in decades.
Reading this you might think my expectations for 'The Village' were highthey weren't. The movie was already spoiled for me, which doesn't necessarily ruin it (I knew the endings of both 'The Sixth Sense' and 'Unbreakable' and still thoroughly enjoyed them) and I heard many negative reviews, including my idol Roger Ebert's one-star review of the film. I had low expectations; it was about as bad as I thought it'd be.
This is a disappointment, because I thought the story was intriguing when I first heard of it, and the trailer sent shivers down my spine. The plot takes place in 1989, in a village surrounded by a forest. No one dares to enter the forest because of 'Those We Do Not Speak Of', fierce creatures that, until we first see them, all we know about them is that they're 'big' (naturally, of course, seeing that they're not supposed to speak of them). For the first hour or so we mostly get to know the characters and their stories. There's the leader Edward Walker (William Hurt), his blind daughter Ivy (Bryce Dallas Howard), the boy she loves, Lucius (Joaquin Phoenix), his mother Alice (Sigourney Weaver), who has feelings for Edward. Oh, and the retarded Noah (Adrien Brody) who prances around the village and also loves Ivy.
Before I start into my major quibbles I'll just mention a few things that annoyed me. Shyamalan has filled his script with a lot of extra crap to make it soundwell, cooler, I guess. The creatures  which could very well have been called 'The Creatures'  are instead called 'Those We Don't Speak Of', though no one in the village ever has any reluctance or fear in mentioning them (this is clear in an early scene in a school classroom, when young children talk about them with Edward and no one seems to mind). Also, the 'bad colour' that supposedly attracts the creatures and the 'safe colour', whichdoesn't, I guess, have little relevance to the plot.
What bothered me the most is how all the characters spoke! They talk like someone (someone very young) would think 1800s people would talk like. Edward Walker takes an eternity to make a point because of all the pseudo-1800s crap Shyamalan shoves in. In the end this kind of makes sense (kind of) but that doesn't make the journey there any less excruciating on the ears.
Some subplots were also pointless and dull, like Alice's romance (or lack thereof) with Edward. She likes him, he apparently likes her, they have a brief scene together near the end, but their whole story is never cleared up.
The acting is another low point, most of the time anyway. Joaquin Phoenix has a great scene with Bryce Dallas Howard and an interesting character, which could've made quite a hero, but because of a plot element which I won't spoil her becomes seriously underused. Brendan Gleeson and Judy Greer  as Ivy's sister  were also underused. William Hurt has a big part, but his dialogue is the absolute worst. There's a point where he delivers a big speech, and his facial expression and voice are great, but his lines are terrible, so it's hard to admire it. I was also surprised that Sigourney Weaver was so confident about the movie in interviews, because on screen she looks terribly uncertain as to whether she's in a good movie or not. Oh, and I once thought that any actor could play a retarded person marginally wellAdrien Brody proved me wrong here.
There is one fantastic performance here, and that's from first-timer Bryce Dallas Howard (Ron's daughter) as Ivy. She has the energy and confidence that the other cast members lack, and somehow manages to get all the best lines. She plays blind perfectly, and when she cries we think it's her crying, not the script. I look forward to her next film role.
A lot of people are complaining about the end twist of the movie. There are about three, one was surprising, one was clever and well executed, and one was aggravating, but it didn't have to be. You see, in 'Signs' Shyamalan spent the bulk of the film setting up his characters and their situation, how the aliens would affect them, before moving to the horror scenes, like the terrifying scene in the dark cellar. He seems to be doing the same thing in 'The Village', but just when you think the horror stuff will start, something happens that will pretty much prevent the rest of the movie from being scary.
I think Shyamalan thought he was making a terrific horror film because he focused more on the characters and their stories, with the horror story as more of a subplot. Problem is, the characters weren't all that interesting, except for Ivy, and the horror parts weren't scary, except for one small jump. What 'The Village' needed was just a little more focus on the creatures, making them scarier and not campy (I laughed when I first saw 'Those We Don't Speak Of').
But, I'm willing to forgive; after all, every director has a stinker here and there. I'll look forward to Shyamalan's next film, 6.5/10.