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The Village
Movie Stats & Links |
| Starring: |
Joaquin Phoenix,
Bryce Dallas Howard, Adrien Brody, William Hurt, Sigourney
Weaver |
| MPAA Rated: |
PG-13 |
| Released By: |
Touchstone Pictures |
| Web Site: |
thevillage.movies.com |
| Kiddie Movie: |
It gets pretty
scary and there's some quality violence. |
| Date Movie: |
She might get
scared and hold your hand. |
| Gratuitous Sex: |
Nah. |
| Gratuitous
Violence: |
Some. |
| Action: |
Nah, mostly
suspense. |
| Laughs: |
A couple of
chuckles. |
| Memorable
Scene: |
I liked M. Night's
cameo, but I'm weird. |
| Memorable
Quote: |
Nothing totally
stands out. |
| Directed By: |
M. Night Shyamalan |
| Produced By: |
Scott Rudin, Sam
Mercer, M. Night Shyamalan |
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The Village
A Movie Review |
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There’s a corner M. Night Shyamalan has painted
himself into, and I think it will take another film or two for the
paint to dry so he can leave the room and just be a filmmaker. The
corner he is in revolves around the fact that after his first famous
films, now everyone goes to his movies trying to figure out the
so-called "twist" rather than immersing themselves in the great
storyteller and movie director that M. Night has become. A lot of
people are complaining that they saw the ending coming for "The
Village," that they weren’t really surprised by it, and you know what,
I saw it coming too, but rather be shocked that I figured it out, I
sat back, enjoyed M. Night’s great filmmaking, and just tried to
figure out how he was going to put himself in a cameo which has really
become his signature for me.Anyway, "The Village" gives us a group
of people living in this valley surrounded by woods. The elders in the
village, led by William Hurt as Edward, have made a truce with the
creatures, which I would have called something cool like "Red Dragons"
or maybe "Red Devils," but instead they just refer to them as "Those
We Don’t Speak Of." Pretty much the truce is "We won’t go in your
woods and you stay out of our village. Oh, and we won’t use the color
red anywhere and will wear these yellow robes sometimes." But there is
trouble brewing, namely with the death of one of the youngster
villagers, which Lucius (Joaquin Phoenix) believes could have been
saved if they could make their way through the woods to one of the
towns outside the area and nab some medicine. Lucius believes the
creatures would be able to feel that he isn’t entering the woods to
hurt them, that he has good in his heart, and he asks the elders if he
can go, but they shoot him down.
Alright, blah, blah, blah. Do to some circumstances not to be named
so as not to give too much away, Lucius ends up injured just as he is
about to get down with Ivy (Bryce Dallas Howard in a screen debut that
shows she will be around for a while). Ivy is distraught, but Dad
Edward knows that if Ivy can get through the woods, and make it back,
well, she could get the medicine needed so Lucius can be saved. Here’s
the catch – Ivy is blind. Does Ivy make it through the woods? Does Ivy
make it back from town? Will Lucius be okay? How will M. Night fit a
man from India into a movie that’s set in the late 1800’s in
Pennsylvania? Will you jump out of your seat when, ah, never mind.
Look, "The Village" is a decent suspense film, and yes, you might
figure out the ending before the ending. So what, it happens all of
the time. Just sit back and enjoy the story and fantastic performances
by a cast also includes the likes of Adrien Brody, Sigourney Weaver,
and M. Night.
I really liked the village, did get surprised by some things, and
enjoyed M. Night’s cameo. That’s all I ask from the man, and he keeps
delivering. It’s 4 ½ stars out of 5 for "The Village."
That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!! |
