The Village...again
ok, ok, I know I dwell on thingsw, but damnit, this movie is awful, and I will not rest until justice is brought swiftly upon it! Here's a really good review for the movie. Out of all the english reviews (yeah, I read them on IMDB), this is the fairest and most objective:
"Some people have been kind enough to read something into The Village, M. Night Shyamalan’s first major misstep. Perhaps this is an allegory, they say. Perhaps this story about the fear that holds a 19th century village by the throat is meant to remind the audience of how the U.S. government keeps its people in fear by using color codes to warn them of impending terrorist attacks, without specifying when and where something might happen. On the other hand, perhaps this is simply a bad movie.
Several ingredients are familiar. One of them is Joaquin Phoenix who plays his part exactly the same way he did in the director’s Signs (2002). The Village also looks and feels exactly like something Mr. Shyamalan would put together. Is there a twist? Yes. Are people looking awfully solemn? You bet. Is the movie somewhat slow? God, yes. Is the cinematography all gray and grim? It is. Are there supernatural elements in the story? Mmm... that’s for you to find out. These ingredients are usually part of what’s good about a Shyamalan picture, but this time they make the film look either silly or boring, depending on your point of view. I guess we all knew that would happen, sooner or later. Using these ingredients, Mr. Shyamalan has always played with fire.
The people who live in this village have a special agreement with the creatures that inhabit the woods. As long as both sides keep to themselves no one will be harmed. But when blood is spilled in the village, the rules must be broken as someone needs to pass through the forest in order to get medical help. Ivy Walker (Bryce Dallas Howard), who’s blind, decides to do it. That’s when the major twist of the story makes itself known. It’s not impossible to figure it out early on, but that’s OK, that’s not really the problem. The problem is the lack of credibility and logic that dominates the whole set-up. That’s what you begin to ponder as the end credits roll; the audience has been cheated, and not in a good way. It’s as if the director focused entirely on the twist, ignored every other aspect, and then managed to screw up the twist anyway. Unfortunately, the movie is a waste of talent. William Hurt delivers a performance that is one of his dullest in a long time, Adrien Brody plays the village idiot in a fairly predictable way (his character is very important to the story, but Mr. Shyamalan forgot to render him the slightest ounce of credibility), and why was Sigourney Weaver contracted for a supporting character that is of no interest whatsoever? Ms. Howard, Ron Howard’s daughter, is the only one in the cast to generate some interest, as the blind girl who challenges her own fears in order to save the boy she loves.
This is one of those occasions when you wonder why the director couldn’t find the time to sit down and say to himself: “What the hell am I doing? Who’s gonna buy into it this time? I have got to do something to get this right.” I guess he was too busy telling Mr. Brody there is no such thing as overkill in a performance."
- Moviehamlet.com
"Some people have been kind enough to read something into The Village, M. Night Shyamalan’s first major misstep. Perhaps this is an allegory, they say. Perhaps this story about the fear that holds a 19th century village by the throat is meant to remind the audience of how the U.S. government keeps its people in fear by using color codes to warn them of impending terrorist attacks, without specifying when and where something might happen. On the other hand, perhaps this is simply a bad movie.
Several ingredients are familiar. One of them is Joaquin Phoenix who plays his part exactly the same way he did in the director’s Signs (2002). The Village also looks and feels exactly like something Mr. Shyamalan would put together. Is there a twist? Yes. Are people looking awfully solemn? You bet. Is the movie somewhat slow? God, yes. Is the cinematography all gray and grim? It is. Are there supernatural elements in the story? Mmm... that’s for you to find out. These ingredients are usually part of what’s good about a Shyamalan picture, but this time they make the film look either silly or boring, depending on your point of view. I guess we all knew that would happen, sooner or later. Using these ingredients, Mr. Shyamalan has always played with fire.
The people who live in this village have a special agreement with the creatures that inhabit the woods. As long as both sides keep to themselves no one will be harmed. But when blood is spilled in the village, the rules must be broken as someone needs to pass through the forest in order to get medical help. Ivy Walker (Bryce Dallas Howard), who’s blind, decides to do it. That’s when the major twist of the story makes itself known. It’s not impossible to figure it out early on, but that’s OK, that’s not really the problem. The problem is the lack of credibility and logic that dominates the whole set-up. That’s what you begin to ponder as the end credits roll; the audience has been cheated, and not in a good way. It’s as if the director focused entirely on the twist, ignored every other aspect, and then managed to screw up the twist anyway. Unfortunately, the movie is a waste of talent. William Hurt delivers a performance that is one of his dullest in a long time, Adrien Brody plays the village idiot in a fairly predictable way (his character is very important to the story, but Mr. Shyamalan forgot to render him the slightest ounce of credibility), and why was Sigourney Weaver contracted for a supporting character that is of no interest whatsoever? Ms. Howard, Ron Howard’s daughter, is the only one in the cast to generate some interest, as the blind girl who challenges her own fears in order to save the boy she loves.
This is one of those occasions when you wonder why the director couldn’t find the time to sit down and say to himself: “What the hell am I doing? Who’s gonna buy into it this time? I have got to do something to get this right.” I guess he was too busy telling Mr. Brody there is no such thing as overkill in a performance."
- Moviehamlet.com