MovieChat Forums > M. Night Shyamalan Discussion > record does not match the hate...

record does not match the hate...

posted 12 years ago by shaquanda36
9 replies | jump to latest

M. Night's a popular target of disdain. I get it--he's had a string of less-than-stellar movies and he seems to take himself very seriously. Fine. But his haters would have you believe that his first movie (which they say is The Sixth Sense) was a huge success, but it was a fluke, and he has sucked ever since. But here's the real record, which is much more nuanced:

Praying With Anger - Indie film, almost nobody saw it
Wide Awake - Minor film, mixed reviews
The Sixth Sense - Huge success, critically and in the box office
Stuart Little - Mixed success
Unbreakable - Favorably reviewed by critics and auds
Signs - Critical and box office success
The Village - good box office, reviews and audience response mixed
The Lady in the Water - a failure in almost every way
The Happening - decent box office numbers, but not well received
Devil - mixed reviews and audience response
The Last Airbender - decent box office, bad reception by critics and audience

By my count, I see 3 or 4 successes, 3 or 4 mixed, and 3 or 4 failures. This is hardly the record of a 1-hit-wonder. And considering that he is only in his 40s, I suspect (hope?) that this mixed bag of films is not the end of his career, but the end of the beginning of his career.

"I put a quote here so I could be cool."

[–] towniecmb12 12 years ago

I'm w/u here...No idea why like 2 movies put him into a "spiral" and "worst director ever" People are nuts.

[–] Jorge_Dunst 12 years ago

The Village, Lady in the Water, Signs, The Happening and After Earth are just atrocious. He needs to stop working NOW!

FYC: TATIANA MASLANY
ORPHAN BLACK

[–] Ghostbusters_MOAB 12 years ago

Signs is a bit stupid,but not atrocious

[–] lamsaes 12 years ago

The Village is extraordinary. In Europe, it's seen as Shyamalan's best film.

[–] Bluedusk 11 years ago

As a European I disagree. I think The Sixth Sense is still seen as a cool blend of Hitchcock suspense and Philip K. Dick's Ubik theme.
The twist of The Village works in a similar fashion but not so shockingly - and it falls a bit flat because it's been done before in TSS.
After TSS, MNS's films all look like "all that for that" stories. There's nothing wrong with telling suspense/twitch stories, but their should be more development. Perhaps MNS should spend some time re-watching all of Hitchcock and the best Brian de Palma.

[–] benmasta 11 years ago

signs was a fun watch, even if it made no sense.

the village is where he fell. He kept trying to push the whole twist bs too much. If he just treated the movie as it was, it probably would have held together better. There was just too many weird things to consider in the village, like who was going to be the monster when the older generation died, or that no one ever noticed they were there.

anyways, i think anyone who defends any of m nights films after the village is just some kind of fanboy thats unwilling to see the truth.

His movies have become a joke. He treats them like a paycheque. The happening was not made to be a comedy. After earth and the last airbender were hilariously bad.

lady in the water was just a ego stroke. He even played the chosen one lol.

what happens is that he somehow gets financial backing and then just goes nuts.

His work is like how george lucas was with star wars. Originally he put love, care and quality into the movies, but after his success, his attempt to make another masterpiece was laughable. Lucas' problem was that he surrounded himself with yesmen and so every retarded idea he ever came up with ended up in the movie.

I believe m night works the same way. Theres just no way he has anyone telling him to take another look at his work. I mean, how was there no one on the set of the happening that was screaming "WHAT ARE WE DOING?!"

And for the last airbender, had no one seen the series on the entire set? What about the kids PLAYING the characters? Why did no one on the entire movie seem to get or even portray (in any way) what the series was about? I mean, it was a kids show, how could he not use the countless hours of material?? I believe it was because he thinks he knows better. It would explain why the movie sucked so bad. M night read a short summary about the show, and put together a movie with the basic information he had. He did not watch the show, i guarantee it.

[–] hoochiemoochie 10 years ago

Sorry, but if Europeans find The Village better than The 6th Sense or Unbreakable...or even Signs, then Europeans are not as smart as I thought they were.

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Sir Ian McKellen? That dude must be knee-deep in boob.

[–] thor_sig 10 years ago

Well its pretty far fetched that one man on this board represents all of us Europeans, dont take it to heart my boy. Of course 6th Sense is MNS best movie but The Village was well received over here and is respected.