M. Night Shyamalan: Rise and Fall

[Napoleon]

The only one of his films that I've seen is Signs, and I thought it was alright personally, just didn't grab me that's all.

Chris Stuckmann gave The Visit a B in his review and enjoyed it overall, and he's usually on point with his film analyses. He said that while it isn't great, it's definitely a step in the right direction for Shayamalan.

 

[Black Narcissus]

Chris Stuckmann went back reviewed his films. Great vids.

 

[Marz69]

It's weird. I like a lot of his stuff. I don't hate the guy and yet when I hear that he's directed something, it gives me pause.

I think ultimately it comes down to "twist" fatigue and/or "twists" limiting his stories & particularly his endings. If he had a string of movies (no twists) and I felt they were good, bad, meh in the same rate as I do the films he's made, i probably wouldn't be as down on him as I am. He's restricting himself. idk, it's hard to explain.

I liked 6th sense, unbreakable, and the village. I know a lot of people hate the ending of the village, but it worked for me.

The devil & signs had its moments

After earth and airbender were awful. Oddly, I think these don't have twists and yet they are difficult to watch (boring). Maybe he has trouble with writing compelling characters. In his twist movies, the mystery seems to carry the characters through.

The happening was meh. There are parts that I like but there was so much that didn't work for me from scene to scene.

I enjoyed waywerd pines

Never saw Lady in the water

 

[Loki882]

See it's not just the declining quality of his films that bugs me. It's his ego and complete inability to deal with criticism. Also he and George Lucas both have this amazing "talent" for taking accomplished actors and making them seem boring, lifeless, and wooden in their movies.

 

[tzarinna]

I'm looking forward to The Visit. Looks absolutely hilarious, it's listed as a comedy on imdb and so far Bloody Disgusting likes it.

 

[cabel]

I like Sixth Sense.
Love Unbreakable.
Enjoy signs.
Love the Village save for the last 5 minutes.
Respect Lady in the Water.
Entertained by the Happening.

Having said that, I fully acknowledge every flaw within. It seems as though Shyamalan happened upon lightning in a bottle early on, and kept trying to recreate it by fitting any genre he can onto the same framework. Not to mention his direction seemed to get lazier and lazier with every film. Awkward closeups, boring flat angles made worse by filming long takes in an attempt to appear artsy. Then throw in his dialogue and performances. But I would still cut him some slack because I still got a sense that there still good intentions behind the films.

Then Last Airbender happened. As someone who loves animation and holds the original series in high regard, I kinda took it personally. I could be more forgiving if the film could stand on its own merits, but in addition to failing on that level, it somehow managed to deconstruct everything there is to love about the series. Now to be fair, I have read that there was considerable studio interference, and that the original cut and script were superior to what we got. I find that unlikely, but should either surface I'll judge them fairly.

That's where I signed off and haven't seen any of his films since.

 

[Thundarr]

I am a big fan of his earlier films. The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable are two of my all time favorite movies. The Village was okay, but not nearly as good as his first two films.

Everything after that has gone downhill. I had no interest in seeing Signs or Lady In The Water, and after hearing the reviews, I'm glad I didn't. Ever since, I just had no interest in seeing any of his movies.

I went to see Devil, and it would have been an okay movie except for the title. The twist in the movie Devil was that one of the people in the elevator was The Devil. That's like calling The Sixth Sense "Bruce Willis Is A Ghost" instead. Not really much of a twist.

The final nail in his coffin professionally was his crap adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender. He had to actually TRY to screw that one up in order to ACTUALLY screw it up.

Do I WANT him to get back to making movies the quality of Sixth Sense and Unbreakable? Absolutely. Do I think that he actually CAN? I don't know. I mean if you can't get The Last Airbender right when success is just laid out in front of you, then how can you make a good movie from scratch?

Until he starts putting true effort into his movies again, I refuse to use his proper name. From now on, as far as I'm concerned, he's M Night Shyamalamadingdong.

 

[flickchick85]

I had no interest in seeing Signs or Lady In The Water, and after hearing the reviews, I'm glad I didn't.

Signs got decent reviews, though. The Village came 2 years later and that's the one that started his streak of critical failures.

 

[spider-neil]

A lot of signs is quite good. The movie goes to pieces in the 3rd act.

 

[Thundarr]

Signs got decent reviews, though. The Village came 2 years later and that's the one that started his streak of critical failures.

Yeah but the trailers didn't really make me feel the need to go see the movie. And after the hype died down, people began talking about how dumb some of the plot points are. Like how the aliens can master intergalactic space travel, but can't figure out how to get through a locked wooden door. Or that they would attempt to conquer a planet which is 75% made up of the very thing that kills them. And in many parts of the planet, that substance falls from the sky on a fairly frequent basis. Those were the reviews I actually paid attention to.

 

[flickchick85]

Yeah but the trailers didn't really make me feel the need to go see the movie. And after the hype died down, people began talking about how dumb some of the plot points are. Like how the aliens can master intergalactic space travel, but can't figure out how to get through a locked wooden door. Or that they would attempt to conquer a planet which is 75% made up of the very thing that kills them. And in many parts of the planet, that substance falls from the sky on a fairly frequent basis. Those were the reviews I actually paid attention to.

That's all true, but it's still way better than The Village.

 

[hopeless]

I always assumed it wasn't water they were vulnerable to, it was HOLY water they were vulnerable to!

The movie was about a priest regaining his faith and as a result all of that water being in his home was effectively blessed that's what I assumed from that scene with the revelation that there are no coincedences!

That scene about discovering their weakness in the middle East is what made me wonder, now about that door they did actually get out but someone made things a bit personal and if you assume those aliens are actually demons well I figured it made sense!

So did he claim it was just plain water then?

 

[Kane52630]

Double Toasted gave The Visit a pretty decent rating.

 

[The Shape]

Just for clarification since people keep listing it, "Devil" was not directed by Shyamalan. He produced it, received a "story by..." credit, but ultimately didn't direct it or write the actual screenplay.

While his name was use to promote it, I wouldn't list it as one of "his" films.

 

[terry78]

So Visit is supposed to be a pretty good return to form. I'll check it out tonight.

 

[Loki882]

I always assumed it wasn't water they were vulnerable to, it was HOLY water they were vulnerable to!

The movie was about a priest regaining his faith and as a result all of that water being in his home was effectively blessed that's what I assumed from that scene with the revelation that there are no coincedences!

That scene about discovering their weakness in the middle East is what made me wonder, now about that door they did actually get out but someone made things a bit personal and if you assume those aliens are actually demons well I figured it made sense!

So did he claim it was just plain water then?

Is EVERY single drink that his daughter puts down Holy Water? Is every body of water Holy Water, because M. Night's character (in his cameo) mentions going down to hide out on a lake or something?

Again, he's going for some half-***ed "message," but not giving much thought to how to convey it properly.

 

[The Shape]

I never saw that aspect of Signs as relating to holy water. It's possible to perceive it that way, I guess.

I always saw the water and ending as driving home the message of how, despite ****** things happening sometimes, you shouldn't lose faith because everything happens for a reason. The title "Signs" has double meaning -- the signs in the crops but also the signs "from above" that are all around us always.

 

[Majik1387]

Just for clarification since people keep listing it, "Devil" was not directed by Shyamalan. He produced it, received a "story by..." credit, but ultimately didn't direct it or write the actual screenplay.

While his name was use to promote it, I wouldn't list it as one of "his" films.

True but his fingerprints are all over the movie. I highly doubt the director really had much creative control.

It's in the same vein as Tim Burton not technically directing The Nightmare Before Christmas.

 

[SerialPeacemake]

The things about Signs is the Alien attack actually made sense if you see it as a desperate raid for resource(human in this case) rather than a full blown attempt at invasion and occupation.This is mainly due to the things that the movie elect no to show us.

 

[Black Narcissus]

I hear he confirmed working on Last Airbender sequel.

Heh.

 

[antonydelfini]

I want an Unbreakable sequel, not a freaking Last Airbender sequel.

I love M. Night's first two films, liked his 3rd one, hated his other movies. Im happy to see many people saying The Visit is at least a semi return to form.

 

[antonydelfini]

The things about Signs is the Alien attack actually made sense if you see it as a desperate raid for resource(human in this case) rather than a full blown attempt at invasion and occupation.This is mainly due to the things that the movie elect no to show us.

Always looked at it this way.

 

[Sawyer]

I rewatched Unbreakable on TV a few months ago and, you know, I've gotta be honest...... ehh. The parts of the movie I always liked are still there, but I don't know. After all these years and all his misfires, all of Shyamalan's usual flourishes just stick out like a sore thumb. My main thing was that any sense of joy or happiness seemed to be a foreign concept to all the characters involved and it just got f***ing grating to me. I don't know. It's still a pretty great spin on the typical superhero story, but his shtick just annoys me now.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

I rewatched Unbreakable on TV a few months ago and, you know, I've gotta be honest...... ehh. The parts of the movie I always liked are still there, but I don't know. After all these years and all his misfires, all of Shyamalan's usual flourishes just stick out like a sore thumb. My main thing was that any sense of joy or happiness seemed to be a foreign concept to all the characters involved and it just got f***ing grating to me. I don't know. It's still a pretty great spin on the typical superhero story, but his shtick just annoys me now.

I kind of think that drearyness is less M. Night and more on Willis. Really, Willis was at the start of his "If this is a straight up drama then I must be Mister Minimalism" Phase. I guess in the end Willis' performance is supposed to be guided by the director but even then he was doing this in other films.

 

[Brother Jack]

I kind of think that drearyness is less M. Night and more on Willis. Really, Willis was at the start of his "If this is a straight up drama then I must be Mister Minimalism" Phase. I guess in the end Willis' performance is supposed to be guided by the director but even then he was doing this in other films.

I actually think it's one of Willis' best performances (Sam Jackson's too). It was understated and melancholy because he was playing a guy without a purpose. This movie was before Willis stopped caring and Jackson consigned to just play variations of his off-screen persona (with exceptions of course).