The Village: Hit or Miss?

[Madison]

I really liked this movie quite a bit, as I do all of M. Night Shymalan's movies. I really enjoy that he tells stories with unique plots, even if you're always expecting a "twist", and I like that his stories are always about something more than what you see on the surface. It's so easy to see the allegory in his movies because it's almost transparent, making it accessible to many people, but that doesn't hurt its effectiveness much.

The Village had more than one "twist", as far as I was concerned, and that also alleviated some of the expectation of a mind-blowing revelation, as it became apparent to me that it wasn't meant to be just like Signs or the Sixth Sense. The story built upon itself with a few false climaxes and such. It was very satisfying.

I really, really liked that it was a commentary on politics, something that I wouldn't have expected from Shyamalan. I wonder how many people understood those parallels, however. The few people I've talked with about the movie didn't quite understand the depth of the ending or the implications thereof, and they saw the movie differently when I explained it to them.

[dlavery]

I'm planning to save my quarters and go play video games instead. I have been pretty disappointed in most M. Night Shyamalan movies I have seen. I saw the end of Sixth Sense coming about 12 minutes into the movie, and thought it was thoroughly predictable. The last half of Signs was one of the most trite and superficial discussions of religion that I have ever come across; it had the depth and insight of rice paper. Unbreakable was just WAY to contrived for my tastes. And let's not even talk about Stuart Little. All together, I have a bad feeling about The Village, and suspect I would just want my $12.00 back afterward.

-dave

[Joshua May]

I really liked Unbreakable and Sixth Sense, but Signs just wasn't my cup of tea. I'm very interested in seeing the Village, I'll probably go next weekend.

[Stina236]

Originally Posted by dlavery

...and suspect I would just want my $12.00 back afterward.

-dave

Cripes! 12.00 for a movie!!! I thought I was getting ripped off for 7.25!!! no wonder why you don't want to go see it!

[karinka13]

I really liked this movie. Even though the monsters looked, as my friend said, like something that would attack a Power Ranger, it was a great movie. Very predictable, but suspenseful enough to keep you on the edge of your seat anyway. It was one of those movies that are scary when you see it in theatres and scary afterwards as well. I have to admit that I was freaked out. O and Yes, I did see M. Night, but I won't tell...

[Jeff Rodriguez]

At first, I thought the movie was alright. The storyline was decent, but it's a typical M. Night movie. He uses the same techniques in all of his movies (angles of shots, things walking by camera, etc.).
Then, I was talking to a friend and found something out. The basic storyline is completely ripped off from a book.
http://endeavor.med.nyu.edu/lit-med/...1565-des-.html
Book + Love + Trademark M. Night twist = The Village.