I'm an M. Night Shyamalan fan who just saw his latest writing/directing release called The Happening and I have to tell you I was disappointed. Shyamalan's movies are like $10 burgers for me.They have historically had a "secret sauce" of suspense, intellectual conflict, and a remarkable twist at the end.
Shyamalan has a breadth of work now extant. IMDb lists the films I have followed as such:
- The Happening (2008)
- Lady in the Water (2006)
- The Village (2004)
- Signs (2002)
- Unbreakable (2000)
- The Sixth Sense (1999)
One thing you can say about all of them is that they contain the element of suspense. Without a doubt, Shyamalan has shown his gift at weaving suspense through a film. This has been a large draw of his films, making each draw higher than average (if not blockbuster) at the theatres. Some moments that stick out in my mind are:
- The spooky kid walking by in an instant (Sixth Sense) almost gave me a heart attack which quickly turned to laughter and embarrassment.
- Bruce Willis finally accepting his superhero gifts and performing quick feats like a Superman or Spider-Man movie (Unbreakable).
- The kid yelling "Behind ... behind" as the grey alien appears to walk by on the TV news (Signs). Who didn't get chills?
- The creature walking by with those ... fingernails? I jumped out of my seat and paid to see it again with unsuspecting friend four more times (The Village)!
These and many more scenes in Shyamalan's movies deliver suspense. Unfortunately The Happening fails in this department. If watching people stick themselves in the jugular with their pocket pens creates suspense as to how others will disgustingly take their own lives, then the viewer will be in suspense. My view is that he tried to be a Quentin Tarantino by making the suspense boil down to: how gross is this gonna get? There is no suspense in The Happening. A second area in which the movie lacks secret sauce is intellectual conflict.
In all of Shyamalan's movies up to Lady in the Water, there has been an intellectual question that drives the movie's plot. Take these two examples for instance:
- The Village: ideas about where they are, what it could be, is it a compound?
- Signs: How can a therapist/psychologist help a kid if he really sees ghosts?
Up to Lady in the Water, one could bring his movies to a college literature class as topics for weeks of discussion. With his last two movies, he has faltered greatly. Lady in the Water consists of a woman and wolves coming through the deep end of a swimming pool drain—more of a fairy tale with no moral than a topic of intellectual discussion. I was bored in both of the last two movies in regard to intellectual challenge.
Article comments
1 - Malcolm
My intro to the work of M. Night was through "Lady In the Water". Because my then girlfriend is a huge fan, we saw it on opening day. To say that I was disappointed is a gross understatement. After all of the great things I had heard about his movies, I was expecting to be dazzled. Shortly thereafter, we watched "Unbreakable", which was much better. Eventually, I will get around to seeing his other pre-Lady In the Water films. The only reason I haven't seen "The Sixth Sense" is become this jerk spoiled the ending for me shortly after it came out. Having said that, I have heard that even if I know the twist, the movie is still well worth seeing.
2 - Damien
Thanks Malcolm. Your comment is very good input because I have often wondered if LITW lacked becaused of the other movies of his I had see. Like if I was comparing too much. Bt you were a newbie to his stuff and you were disappointed. See the other films, they are a blast. Thanks for dropping by.
3 - El Bicho
I am a fan of Night's first three films but "The Village" was terrible. Once the reveal is made the story makes absolutely no sense and falls apart. An adult should have gone instead of Ivy.
4 - Damien
Thanks El. The way I saw it was that they were so afraid of having their lie revealed that they had to send Ivy. But I agree it had holes. Still, you must agree it gave you sociological questions to talk about over coffee. The Lady in the Water Decidedly does not. As I said, I really liked the Village but your points are good ones.
5 - El Bicho
If they were so afraid of having their lie revealed, then why send someone who doesn't know the lie? She's blind, not an idiot, and since was on her way to adulthood and was going to learn the truth anyway, there was no reason for the adults to not tell her. Night had an interesting premise, but couldn't figure out an interesting way to reveal it.
6 - Steve K.
First, wasn't Graham (Mel Gibson's character who said, "Swing away!") the BROTHER to Merrill - not his father?! I get chills when I still watch that scene and wish I was the one with the bat!
Nevertheless, my wife and I are big fans of Shyamalan, but with The Happening, I had to go by myself due to the R-rating and her thinking the gore would be too much (Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th and Halloween were rated R, afterall!) I thought The Happening was good in that it got me "thinking", but I am very tired of the "preachy" movies. I go to the movies to escape that kind of stuff!
7 - Damien
@Steve K.: I just headed over to IMDB where I do most my checking on names and such and found that indeed you are correct sir! Rev. Graham IS indeed Merrill's older brother. I got mixed up on that. Thank you for clarifying that. It has been a few years for me. I also appreciated your sentiment about the bat ... we ALL wanted to be swinging away. Dang that monster was SOOOO scary. Nice to have some empathy in that!
Good for you on the labeling of Happening a "preachy" movie. It seems leftist "green" types are getting more and more like preachers they militate against. Makes the middle look more sane which is good because that is pretty much where I hang out. I agree the end was preachy and the message preached was as boring as a silent move ... well, I take that back ... a silent movie could be much better depending on which one you're talking about.