a disappointment (again)

Rating: 6/10 (11 January 2005)

OK i was one of those who didn't see the twist in the 6th sense coming. however once i had seen it, and had a few minutes to mull over it i thought "y'know, rod serling could have told this story better, and done it in a half hour".
(POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD) similarly, signs was nicely suspenseful, and although it didn't have a twist per se, i was left thinking "ok lemme get this straight; these aliens have developed interstellar travel, developed technology that duplicates their own natural chameleon abilities, but they haven't figured out raincoats? (especially considering how much of the earth is wet?!)" so today i rent the village. and very early on i guessed the twist ending. (i wish i could say i figured it out, but it was a guess, and that only.) i'm also fairly sure i would have predicted the deception as well (which would have given me the entire plot and motivation), except i had been mislead by a review at the time of the films theatrical release which said that the creatures were a let-down when they are finally seen, which led me to believe that they were going to be something other than what they actually turned out to be.
i suppose what I'm trying to say is that while MNS is a fine director in terms of mood and handling the actors, if he wants to do these twilight zone-ish plot twist endings, he needs to get a lot better at it. even if you had figured out the twist on a TZ episode, the execution made the payoff worthwhile, instead of leaving you feeling cheated.