Salutations once again! Here's Part 2 of my Ranked list of M. Night Shyamalan films. Thank goodness it gets better from here. SPLIT is right around the corner and it looks promising, but until then, let's end this retrospective on a high note. Also, if you haven't already, be sure to check out Part 1 of this list. Let's get to it!
PART 2
(#5 - 1)
5. THE VILLAGE -
Like Lady in the Water I know for this film I’ll be in the extreme minority because unlike most people I really dug this movie. Maybe this film wasn’t as thought-provoking as say The Sixth Sense, Signs or Unbreakable, yet there was still a twist in this story that really adds a lot to the film upon further multiple viewings. I remember liking the film okay seeing it a few years back, but revisiting it again really had an impression on me because this time around I could really appreciate where Shyamalan took this story. I actually heard elsewhere that this film was marketed more as a horror/thriller, but this film turned out to be more of a romance with elements of suspense. I’ll be honest that when I first saw the film back then I didn’t have those expectations and I didn’t know what to think going in. I see that as a blessing in disguise because those high expectations of what I thought the film was going be didn’t damage my viewing experience. I was able to appreciate it then for what it was and now I can appreciate it more at a whole other level.
The story was rather simple, but the subtlety of how certain aspects resulted in said story made more of an impact and I loved that the film took its time to have important plot points revealed. Also, the strongest aspects were in the performances with a superb cast in place being Bryce Dallas Howard, Joaquin Phoenix, William Hurt and Sigourney Weaver. Not to mention that the film looks absolutely gorgeous with the inclusion of Roger Deakins behind such breathtaking cinematography. Some of the issues I had were that even though I thought the film did a fine job with pacing in regards to telling its story, it did feel a little too slow burn at times and probably could’ve been cut down 10-15 minutes. Overall I was very impressed with the end result of The Village and glad it had a solid story, quality filmmaking, and performances that made me want to revisit it again.
4. THE VISIT -
I was relieved to hear most of the positive word of mouth this film got when it released because it meant that Shyamalan made a film that was actually of quality. However, it did have its fair share of critics and not everyone felt satisfied towards it like most. All that aside I knew what only mattered is how I took away this film and felt about it afterward and I gotta say...Shyamalan did a great, great job! Is it almost as great as his other films? Does it change the game for found footage films? Probably not, but what this film was able to accomplish was tell a very creepy story and execute that in its own unique fashion. We might’ve seen these similar tropes in a horror/thriller based film before, but the film was able to tell a story and get us invested in this almost realistic experience. One of the biggest compliments I can give about this movie are the performances and that unknown actors were cast because Shyamalan made the effort of making this more of an independent film. I thought the young actors in the lead roles brought a lot of energy to experience, but also executed the element of fear that I could buy into.
The actors who portrayed the grandparents also did a spectacular job of adding so much chaos brought into the film. I genuinely loved the experience watching it and that Shyamalan didn’t make the effort of going all out and make a big budget bloated mess like he, unfortunately, did with The Last Airbender and After Earth. To me, this film is where he came back to his roots by making a smaller film and had the subtlety be in terms of its filmmaking and that’s because it wasn’t another standard Hollywood horror film. The decision to make this film a personal found footage movie was so clever and added a lot to the experience. Yes, there have been a lot of found footage films made nowadays and not all of them hit, but what Shyamalan did here with a small cast of unknown actors, a well thought out and creepy story with a great twist I didn’t at all see coming, Shyamalan did a really good job with what he had to work with.
3. THE SIXTH SENSE -
This was a masterfully crafted film hands down! Even though an endearing, well-made film like Wide Awake preceded this film, The Sixth Sense just shows that M. Night has the directing chops for making a film that’s so gripping and thought-provoking with so much talent and effort going into every single shot. This has got to be one of the films for me that when I saw it the first time I was blown away once it ended since it takes a turn that I did not see coming. I saw this film at least 6 years ago and even then I think I could appreciate the originality that went into this film in terms of its screenplay. The screenplay was so cleverly written that to go along with it there was such amazing and intense filmmaking involved with the way the film was executed adding on to an already compelling storyline. I love that this is the type of film that if you look at each shot closely and the way they're composed, it can speak volumes for how certain events will turn out and then upon multiple viewings you view these shots differently and understand why the cinematography was used in this fashion.
Aside from filmmaking, every performance was so flawless with people like Bruce Willis, Toni Collete and of course Hayley Joel Osment, who completely steals the show. His portrayal as Cole was probably one of the greatest performances ever given by a child actor. He added to the overall experience and us as the audience truly believed the troubles that he was going through in life. In this film, Shyamalan wrote highly fascinating characters and gave them great personal issues and conflicts that we could understand and latch onto because, again, it makes the experience feel so believable and not just another thriller where creepy and screwed up things happen. This isn’t to say that it doesn’t have its fair share of creepy and intense moments because it sure does and you get that emotional response, but that the same time you get a thought-provoking story, incredibly interesting and well-portrayed characters and a thriller written and directed like no other.
2. UNBREAKABLE -
This was another masterful creation by Shyamalan, who probably could’ve just given us another standard superhero origin story, but the filmmaking that is utilized to tell this story is so incredible that it makes the experience feel so real. I love how grounded Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Trilogy can be, but a film like this is so up to par in execution and also doesn’t tell the story about the birth of our hero in a standard, formulaic fashion. The build up to get to such a fantastical place in this film was utterly excellent and when the film ends it has such brilliant payoff that it leaves us wanting more out of this story to revisit the film again because you want to pick up on more hints that the film showcases in great detail. I love the unconventional fashion in which they explore Bruce Willis’s character, David Dunn, and also the bizarre connection that he has with Elijah Price played brilliantly by Samuel L. Jackson. The character of Price is so interesting with how insightful and obsessive he was about Dunn and how he associates real world situations with these analytical thoughts and appreciation towards the art of comic book storytelling.
Unbreakable is truly one of Shyamalan’s best films and another vastly underappreciated film in general. There’s so much that this film introduces in this world about the supernatural that I would be dying to learn more about that aspect as well as what the fate of these characters would be if newer installments were in place. I know Shyamalan has been open to developing a sequel and if you haven’t seen the video on the Screen Junkies YouTube channel where actor/comedian Patton Oswalt is interviewed and pitches an idea about an Unbreakable trilogy, go check it out. Your mind will explode. Personally, I would be open to another installment if it’s done right, but until then I can’t wait to revisit and analyze this film more since it’s so well done on an artistic filmmaking standpoint and proves to show that Shyamalan is at his best with a film like this.
1. SIGNS -
Shocking, right, or as the Shyalaman joke goes "What a Twist!" Personally, I’ll never ever understand the hate that this film gets. This is truly one of the most underrated films I’ve ever seen. Right off the bat, I think it’s M. Night’s best effort in terms of directing. Over the course of the film, he does a great job of revealing certain plot points that feel right at the given moment and don’t feel abrupt in the slightest. There’s a lot to get into with these aspects, but in terms of the directing, I love that the film has visual aids to pick up on for every detail in this story. Also, in terms of its screenplay, there are lines said that aren’t just throwaway lines that are forced out of these characters. I love that almost every line said has some sort of importance for the overall story that you have to listen closely to pick them up. For those reasons alone it just makes this film insanely rewatchable.
Speaking of characters, Mel Gibson delivers an excellent performance as the father, Graham Hess. This character had such excellent development throughout the entire film where you could understand the conflict going on with his inner persona and how it affects his family life. Joaquin Phoenix also portrays a lovable and loyal brother in Merrill. The child actors were also very impressive as Graham’s children with Rory Culkin as Morgan and Abigail Breslin as Bo. It was probably some of the best child acting I’ve ever seen. I really loved this different take on an alien invasion story and how it was told through a firm point-of-view of our main characters being this family. There was incredible suspense and rather touching moments that had me pretty teary eyed. Of course, there’s the ending of the film, which I will not spoil, but I think people were not being fair and taking the time to analyze more in the overall story. Besides that, there’s so much at stake in the climax that I just don’t see how this film could be off-putting. All and all I think Signs is a beautifully shot, well directed and misunderstood sci-fi classic that will definitely stand the test of time for me.
And that's the end of my ranked list. I hope you all enjoyed reading that. I think Shyamalan, for the most part, can be a very talented director, but I, of course, can acknowledge the mistakes he made with a few of his films. Overall, I think he's done really great things in his career and will cheer him on because I know what he can do. Since we've reached the end of my ranked list and retrospective, be on the lookout for my review of SPLIT, which will be up this Sunday. I really look forward to seeing what he brings there. Fingers crossed he doesn't let me down. His last film The Visit really impressed me, so I have a feeling he'll still be in the right direction with this film. Until then folks, see some movies and all that good stuff.
PART 2
(#5 - 1)
Like Lady in the Water I know for this film I’ll be in the extreme minority because unlike most people I really dug this movie. Maybe this film wasn’t as thought-provoking as say The Sixth Sense, Signs or Unbreakable, yet there was still a twist in this story that really adds a lot to the film upon further multiple viewings. I remember liking the film okay seeing it a few years back, but revisiting it again really had an impression on me because this time around I could really appreciate where Shyamalan took this story. I actually heard elsewhere that this film was marketed more as a horror/thriller, but this film turned out to be more of a romance with elements of suspense. I’ll be honest that when I first saw the film back then I didn’t have those expectations and I didn’t know what to think going in. I see that as a blessing in disguise because those high expectations of what I thought the film was going be didn’t damage my viewing experience. I was able to appreciate it then for what it was and now I can appreciate it more at a whole other level.
The story was rather simple, but the subtlety of how certain aspects resulted in said story made more of an impact and I loved that the film took its time to have important plot points revealed. Also, the strongest aspects were in the performances with a superb cast in place being Bryce Dallas Howard, Joaquin Phoenix, William Hurt and Sigourney Weaver. Not to mention that the film looks absolutely gorgeous with the inclusion of Roger Deakins behind such breathtaking cinematography. Some of the issues I had were that even though I thought the film did a fine job with pacing in regards to telling its story, it did feel a little too slow burn at times and probably could’ve been cut down 10-15 minutes. Overall I was very impressed with the end result of The Village and glad it had a solid story, quality filmmaking, and performances that made me want to revisit it again.
4. THE VISIT -
I was relieved to hear most of the positive word of mouth this film got when it released because it meant that Shyamalan made a film that was actually of quality. However, it did have its fair share of critics and not everyone felt satisfied towards it like most. All that aside I knew what only mattered is how I took away this film and felt about it afterward and I gotta say...Shyamalan did a great, great job! Is it almost as great as his other films? Does it change the game for found footage films? Probably not, but what this film was able to accomplish was tell a very creepy story and execute that in its own unique fashion. We might’ve seen these similar tropes in a horror/thriller based film before, but the film was able to tell a story and get us invested in this almost realistic experience. One of the biggest compliments I can give about this movie are the performances and that unknown actors were cast because Shyamalan made the effort of making this more of an independent film. I thought the young actors in the lead roles brought a lot of energy to experience, but also executed the element of fear that I could buy into.
The actors who portrayed the grandparents also did a spectacular job of adding so much chaos brought into the film. I genuinely loved the experience watching it and that Shyamalan didn’t make the effort of going all out and make a big budget bloated mess like he, unfortunately, did with The Last Airbender and After Earth. To me, this film is where he came back to his roots by making a smaller film and had the subtlety be in terms of its filmmaking and that’s because it wasn’t another standard Hollywood horror film. The decision to make this film a personal found footage movie was so clever and added a lot to the experience. Yes, there have been a lot of found footage films made nowadays and not all of them hit, but what Shyamalan did here with a small cast of unknown actors, a well thought out and creepy story with a great twist I didn’t at all see coming, Shyamalan did a really good job with what he had to work with.
3. THE SIXTH SENSE -
This was a masterfully crafted film hands down! Even though an endearing, well-made film like Wide Awake preceded this film, The Sixth Sense just shows that M. Night has the directing chops for making a film that’s so gripping and thought-provoking with so much talent and effort going into every single shot. This has got to be one of the films for me that when I saw it the first time I was blown away once it ended since it takes a turn that I did not see coming. I saw this film at least 6 years ago and even then I think I could appreciate the originality that went into this film in terms of its screenplay. The screenplay was so cleverly written that to go along with it there was such amazing and intense filmmaking involved with the way the film was executed adding on to an already compelling storyline. I love that this is the type of film that if you look at each shot closely and the way they're composed, it can speak volumes for how certain events will turn out and then upon multiple viewings you view these shots differently and understand why the cinematography was used in this fashion.
Aside from filmmaking, every performance was so flawless with people like Bruce Willis, Toni Collete and of course Hayley Joel Osment, who completely steals the show. His portrayal as Cole was probably one of the greatest performances ever given by a child actor. He added to the overall experience and us as the audience truly believed the troubles that he was going through in life. In this film, Shyamalan wrote highly fascinating characters and gave them great personal issues and conflicts that we could understand and latch onto because, again, it makes the experience feel so believable and not just another thriller where creepy and screwed up things happen. This isn’t to say that it doesn’t have its fair share of creepy and intense moments because it sure does and you get that emotional response, but that the same time you get a thought-provoking story, incredibly interesting and well-portrayed characters and a thriller written and directed like no other.
2. UNBREAKABLE -
This was another masterful creation by Shyamalan, who probably could’ve just given us another standard superhero origin story, but the filmmaking that is utilized to tell this story is so incredible that it makes the experience feel so real. I love how grounded Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Trilogy can be, but a film like this is so up to par in execution and also doesn’t tell the story about the birth of our hero in a standard, formulaic fashion. The build up to get to such a fantastical place in this film was utterly excellent and when the film ends it has such brilliant payoff that it leaves us wanting more out of this story to revisit the film again because you want to pick up on more hints that the film showcases in great detail. I love the unconventional fashion in which they explore Bruce Willis’s character, David Dunn, and also the bizarre connection that he has with Elijah Price played brilliantly by Samuel L. Jackson. The character of Price is so interesting with how insightful and obsessive he was about Dunn and how he associates real world situations with these analytical thoughts and appreciation towards the art of comic book storytelling.
Unbreakable is truly one of Shyamalan’s best films and another vastly underappreciated film in general. There’s so much that this film introduces in this world about the supernatural that I would be dying to learn more about that aspect as well as what the fate of these characters would be if newer installments were in place. I know Shyamalan has been open to developing a sequel and if you haven’t seen the video on the Screen Junkies YouTube channel where actor/comedian Patton Oswalt is interviewed and pitches an idea about an Unbreakable trilogy, go check it out. Your mind will explode. Personally, I would be open to another installment if it’s done right, but until then I can’t wait to revisit and analyze this film more since it’s so well done on an artistic filmmaking standpoint and proves to show that Shyamalan is at his best with a film like this.
1. SIGNS -
Shocking, right, or as the Shyalaman joke goes "What a Twist!" Personally, I’ll never ever understand the hate that this film gets. This is truly one of the most underrated films I’ve ever seen. Right off the bat, I think it’s M. Night’s best effort in terms of directing. Over the course of the film, he does a great job of revealing certain plot points that feel right at the given moment and don’t feel abrupt in the slightest. There’s a lot to get into with these aspects, but in terms of the directing, I love that the film has visual aids to pick up on for every detail in this story. Also, in terms of its screenplay, there are lines said that aren’t just throwaway lines that are forced out of these characters. I love that almost every line said has some sort of importance for the overall story that you have to listen closely to pick them up. For those reasons alone it just makes this film insanely rewatchable.
Speaking of characters, Mel Gibson delivers an excellent performance as the father, Graham Hess. This character had such excellent development throughout the entire film where you could understand the conflict going on with his inner persona and how it affects his family life. Joaquin Phoenix also portrays a lovable and loyal brother in Merrill. The child actors were also very impressive as Graham’s children with Rory Culkin as Morgan and Abigail Breslin as Bo. It was probably some of the best child acting I’ve ever seen. I really loved this different take on an alien invasion story and how it was told through a firm point-of-view of our main characters being this family. There was incredible suspense and rather touching moments that had me pretty teary eyed. Of course, there’s the ending of the film, which I will not spoil, but I think people were not being fair and taking the time to analyze more in the overall story. Besides that, there’s so much at stake in the climax that I just don’t see how this film could be off-putting. All and all I think Signs is a beautifully shot, well directed and misunderstood sci-fi classic that will definitely stand the test of time for me.
And that's the end of my ranked list. I hope you all enjoyed reading that. I think Shyamalan, for the most part, can be a very talented director, but I, of course, can acknowledge the mistakes he made with a few of his films. Overall, I think he's done really great things in his career and will cheer him on because I know what he can do. Since we've reached the end of my ranked list and retrospective, be on the lookout for my review of SPLIT, which will be up this Sunday. I really look forward to seeing what he brings there. Fingers crossed he doesn't let me down. His last film The Visit really impressed me, so I have a feeling he'll still be in the right direction with this film. Until then folks, see some movies and all that good stuff.
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