Movie Review #33: The Village (2004)

This is the last M. Night Shyamalan film that I will be reviewing for one reason: It is his last good film. That being said, what on earth did I just watch?

The population of a small village believe that their alliance with the creatures that inhabit the forest is coming to an end. If that summary confused you beyond belief, I felt the same way until the last 20 minutes of this film.

This movie is perhaps M. Night's most interesting film because unlike The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable and Signs, you know what the plot is. In The Village, you don't know jack squat. In the aspect of keeping the audience in the dark for almost all of the film, The Village succeeds.

The cast is Shyamalan's most star studded cast yet with the talents of Bryce Dallas Howard, Joaquin Phoenix, Adrien Brody, William Hurt and Sigourney Weaver. All of them are great actors. The main star of this is Bryce Dallas Howard. I thought that this would revolve around Joaquin, but he is only in it for the first half. I found that fairly deceiving since his name was the first that appeared on the credits. I was kind of bummed that this wouldn't be the Joaquin Phoenix showcase that I hoped it would be, but for the half that he's in, he's fantastic (as usual.)

Spoiler Alert: Spoilers will follow from here on out. Do not continue reading this unless you have seen this film or you don't care.
There are multiple things in this film that I just didn't buy at all. In the second half, Bryce Dallas Howard has to leave the village to get medicine for Joaquin Phoenix because Adrien Brody went bananas and stabbed him because he loves Bryce even though she loves Joaquin. That being said, unless she gets the medicine to stop the infection, Joaquin will die. That should be pretty simple but Bryce's character Ivy is blind. So a blind girl is given a quest to go through unfamiliar territory by herself. That seems completely possible right? Now I enjoy watching films that are completely unrealistic. That being said, this film is grounded in reality and I just didn't buy that at all. Even though the big plot twist wasn't as lame as the twist in Signs was, it felt like it was really convenient and you end up seeing it coming before it happens.

Final Report: Aside from the absurdity, The Village is well acted. Upon watching this for the first time, it keeps you interested and you want to know how it all ties together in the end.