On this week’s Slice of SciFi, we told you about M. Night Shyamalan’s reaction to a member of the press when told about how audience enjoyment of his film had dropped with each film he directed.
The director’s response was a clipped one and it appears that the goodwill he once had with audiences is eroding.
At the just concluded San Diego ComicCon, a preview for the upcoming movie “Devil” was playing before the “Let Me In” panel. The audience was reportedly enjoying the trailer until Shymalan’s name appeared on screen as a producer. The audience than began to boo loudly.
The trailer has also been attached to “Inception” and is reportedly generating negative responses from audience members.
You're harshin' his mellon!
Typo...
You're harshin' his mellow!
He has only himself to blame, he thinks he is so clever with his twists that he telegraphs fifteen minutes into the movie. I'm amazed he is still working really. The audience are not going to give him a chance to redeem himself no matter what he does.
As long as Uwe Boll keeps getting work, Shyamalan should still be able to find work for himself as well. Once studio execs stop calling Uwe, then he should start worrying.
Maybe he should spend a few years as a hands-off-the-story producer or something that will allow him to start experiencing stories rather than making up ones that are either too twisty for their own good, or fail to connect with an audience.
The characters in Sixth Sense were easy to connect with, twist ending be damned. The twist made the characters powerful and more sympathetic, but it didn't detract from the connection that was built during the story. For me, the twist ending in Unbreakable added a deeper layer to the two main characters (a more subtle one, but it still worked well for me).
In The Village, the twist ending was a violation of the promise of the story... it was weak sauce and someone in his camp needs to be a better sounding board when he starts thinking that pulling a cheap, childish trick on the audience is the same as a surprising plot twist.
He can still redeem himself, but it's going to take a lot of work, and a lot of self-reflection, but until he admits that he's made some mistakes and needs to concern himself more with story structure and not so much with building a plotline around a trick/twist, he's going to have a rough road.
But I am concerned that "Devil" isn't going to get a fair box office chance because his name's on it. If that's the case, and he really didn't have any creative input on the film, that would be a shame and just bad luck/timing on the part of that movie's creative team.
Yeah, when the trailer for Devil played during my screening of Inception, the audience reaction was so vicious it actually made me flinch. This does not bode well.
M. Night: Here's the lesson, just in case you still don't get it ---- Don't PISS OFF your fanbase.
I dont understand the backlash..Airbender was actually decent. If you dont nit pick it (he had to squueze and ENTIRE season of a show into a 2 hour film, no $%&^ he had to cut parts..sheesh), the movie itself was entertaining and i did NOT feel like my ticket price was wasted. I felt like the money i spent was of equal worth of the time i spent.
Is he a director that will win Oscars? NO. But guess what? Nicolas cage will never get one yet i enjoy his movies. Bruce willis...arnold..bunch of other people will never win oscars but i still enjoy their movies. Some of his movies were hits..some misses. id rather make a judgement of a movie myself based on what it is and the cost/enjoyment ratio then simply a name on a screen,.
Ah, but was Last Airbender good enough to overcome the intertia of discontent for the handful of movies before it? Especially given that the story was an adaptation and not an original, and that some folks feel he didn't take a strong enough directorial hand and get better performances (I can't say personally because I haven't seen it yet, and will reserve opinion until I have).
This avalance of backlash has been building, and given that the already strong fanbase that Last Airbender had seemed to be strongly disappointed, consider that the spark in the dry underbrush. What I wish is that they'd called the movie "The Last Airbender: Book 1: Water", that way folks like me would have known to expect a continuation. Knowing that now, I wonder why he wasn't able to get the resources to film all three chapters at the same time, much like Peter Jackson was able to do with Lord of the Rings.
Summer, I just saw Airbender, and yes, it begins with the words "Book 1: Water"
My nine-year-old and I loved it. It is not "oh my gosh" greatness, but it was worth the price of admission for a good time.
Coincidentally, a few days before, I saw "Lady in the Water" for the first time and was blown away. So, apparently, I like Night's movies. I like that he takes time for slow shots that let the actors convey stuff without dialog. I like movies with story and characters. And if you liked Unbreakable, make sure to watch the deleted scenes on the DVD, there's one in particular that explains the relationship between the hero and his wife that really blew me away.
So take my opinion for what it's worth, since I may just be turning into a fan-boy for Shyamalan.
guardian: Nic Cage did win an Oscar. It was for Leaving Las Vegas.
As long as his movies make money, let them boo. He'll flick them off all the way to the bank.