Su-plise!

(No spoilers)

Shyamalan has developed a well crafted ability to draw in his viewers. He does this with character development, music, tense drama and other methods. These methods are often compared to Hitchcock’s. He takes stories that could otherwise be deemed ridiculous if done by another director, and makes them engaging. I very much agree with Roger Ebert when he said:

“...the writer-director, has been successful in evoking horror from minimalist stories, as in ‘Signs,’ which if you think about it rationally is absurd -- but you get too involved to think rationally.”

I was only disappointed with the movie as it came to its near end. The first 90 minutes were just as engaging as his previous two works. Then, there were the two surprises. The first being too obvious, though, I had not guessed it. It was one of those surprises that makes you blurt out “that’s it?” It completely made sense but didn’t match the intensity of the build up.

The second twist, the one that was supposed to be “the big one” also did not trigger a climatic emotional response. In fact, it was one of my few guesses. Would I have thought different if it wasn’t one of my guesses? I sincerely doubt it. The major flaw was that the “shock” was more appropriate for the characters of the movie, the newest generation of the villagers. We as an audience simply cannot relate to the contrast. Did Shyamalan confuse the newest generation of villagers for the audience? It felt like it.

Perhaps after Josh sees the movie, we can openly discuss the specifics of the “surprises.”