Great movie, though many people will tell you otherwise. I think a lot of people were going into it thinking it was 1) a horror/thriller or 2) have the trademark Shamalan twist at the end. It was neither of these. If you go in with a blank slate (which means stop reading here, if you haven't seen the movie) and with the idea hearing a good story, I think you'll enjoy it.
Warning - spoiler below
I read one review that said it was too much of a bed time story. Well, it is a bed time story. It is originally a bed time story he told his kids, which made its way into a childrens book. Most movies either draw you into a total fantasy world, or they are in the 'real' world. I think this movie does a good job of bringing the two together.
The movie is just a good story. Shyamalan is also a master of subtleties. On of my favorite parts of the move is the types of characters that help Story. Unassimilated immigrants (the spanish and asian families), the angry old man, the crazy cat lady, a dejected former doctor, a child with too much imagnation - in some form or another, they are all the people who are not neccessarily the conventional 'heroes'. But here, it is the ordinary, the disinherited, who do something important for the world. They are the ones important for humanity.
He goes about telling the story of the rescue of Story in a fascinating way. I guess you could say his trademarke "twist" is there. Halfway through the movie, Shyamalan leads you to believe you've figured it out - Cleveland has found all the pieces to helping Story, but they all turn out to be wrong. In the end, the clues are there, but he overpowered them with the wrong clues to mislead the viewer.
I personally enjoyed the fairy tale-ness of the movie, but call me a sucker for legends and stories that harken back to the days when science and logical thought did not kill a good story.
Ok, so maybe I should change all the "you's" throughout this to "I's". I'm sure there are enough people who will challenge me on any of the above. So I will acquiese and call it 'opinion'. But it's all opinion anyway.
2 comments:
Josh, in reading your thoughts, I was drawn to another subtlety of this movie...its about saving story! Saving the heritage and future of story. In the movie, they need a protector - to keep it from hands (or teeth) that would hurt or kill, a healer - to bandage the wounds from the heavy handed, etc. M.Night himself was "the one" that Story needed to connect with in order to gain freedom. Maybe he sees himself as a pseudo savior of good story telling...one who resurrects the beauty of what it once was...
food for thought!
Miss you...love you!
I think you could twist that around as well. Not only is he the protector of Story, but Story, is the person who inspires him, who gives him his vehicle. Story, or stories - the art of story telling - gives him what he needs to get his point across. And it is stories that connect people and bring them together.
I don't care what the critics say. This was an excellent movie.
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