Movie Details
| Title: | Split | |
| Director: | M. Night Shyamalan | |
| Year: | 2016 | |
| Genre: | Horror | |
| Times Seen: | 1 | |
| Last Seen: | 11.10.24 |
Other Movies Seen By This Director (2)
- The Happening
- Lady in the Water
| Date Viewed | Venue | Note |
| 11.10.24 | Internet | This Screening is part of event: DVRfest 2024 Rounding out this second chance triple feature is A number 1 on the list: M Night Shyamalan. Yes, I liked The Sixth Sense when it came out; the twist totally got me and I thought it was brilliant. But I didn't like Unbreakable, and Signs pissed me off, and The Village pissed me off even more, and as I recall I refused to pay to see Lady in the Water, I made Jarrette pay for my ticket because he wanted me to go see it with him, and as bad as I thought it was, my opinion lowered even further when I read that book about the making of the film. I think morbid curiosity led me to watch The Happening and it was as bad as everyone said it was. At that point I decided to add Shyamalan to the list and forget about the rest of his career. And for a long while that seemed like a wise decision. But then he made Split. It was a secret screening at Fantastic Fest a year I didn't attend and people said it was surprisingly good and the big twist is that it was a return to the Unbreakable universe. And since this movie he's more or less had a career again. People see his movies like they're not frustratingly terrible, the world forgave him for Lady in the Water. So... I'm trying my hardest to keep an open mind here. I like James McAvoy, it's always fun to see actors chew on multiple personalities. Let's give Split a watch. Well... ok so the reason why Shyamalan is on the list isn't because he's a bad filmmaker. I think he has a great control of the craft of making a movie. His frame is interesting, he's very effective with his camera movement, he pays close attention to color and costume and production design. My problems with him come mostly as a writer where he doesn't mind consistently detaching from reality in order to deliver some bullshit surprise. It worked once so he made a career of it and failed every other time (to me, I know his movies have made a lot of cash). So his movies that bug me the most - Signs and The Village - bug me so much because 60-70% of them are really fucking good movies. Then it all comes crashing down in the most infuriating way. And the ego of putting himself in often pivotal roles also irks me. And many of the performances he gets out of his actors are terrible. But mostly it's the story stuff. It got to where I could count on laughably ridiculous things happening that ruin any vibe or immersion that I had with the movie, so why bother. Split. Great performance from McAvoy. I firmly believe he brought all of that with him. It's a standout performance. Also Anya Taylor-Joy which I didn't realize was in this. This is part of her ascension. She has less to do than McAvoy by a mile but she's still good. And for the most part the story is good. You think it's a psychological thriller until it becomes a horror movie in a pretty nice turn. But then the twist has to come and we learn that no, this can't just be a good movie, it's gotta be a bullshit origin story for a super villain in the Unbreakable universe. Couldn't leave good enough alone. Granted, I thought it was a better origin story than Unbreakable so there's that. As far as world-collapsing shitstorms of endings goes this one isn't nearly as terrible as most of his others. It's really the closest I've seen him do without a huge twist at the end. I guess that's why people liked it. For me it was mostly McAvoy's performance that made it worth watching. The relatively low Shaymalan-ness also worked and, like I said, I believe he can make a good movie. He knows how to put scares in the frame, how to bring the audience along on the edge of their seat. This was a grudgingly good movie. Still not interested in seeing more though, unless people talk about how great it is like they did with this. OK, that concludes the Second Chance triple feature. To be honest, from here on out I don't have a plan. I'm still not sure if I'm taking off work tomorrow so the next one might be the last? I have a ton of movies still on the HD though so let's see if we can cherry-pick some fun ones, eh? |
