The Village
Cast
Bryce Dallas Howard .... Ivy Walker
Joaquin Phoenix .... Lucius Hunt
Adrien Brody .... Noah Percy
William Hurt .... Edward Walker
Sigourney Weaver .... Alice Hunt
Directed by
M. Night Shyamalan
Rater #1
6/10. 'The Village' depicts the thrilling tale of an isolated town confronting the astonishing truth that lies just outside its borders. At first glance, this village seems picture perfect, but this close-knit community lives with the frightening knowledge that creatures reside in the surrounding woods. The evil and foreboding force is so unnerving that none dare venture beyond the borders of the village and into the woods. But when curious, headstrong Lucius Hunt plans to step beyond the boundaries of the town and into the unknown, his bold move threatens to forever change the future of the village.
Now, I'm a person that doesn't go out to haunted houses or see scary movies at midnight with the full moon out and the sounds from the movie playing full blast, and I really don't want to see scary movies. I've seen Signs and it wasn't too bad for me. I read some imdb.com posts and read there was a big twist at the end. I just wasn't sure what was going to happen.
Adrien Brody was sort of funny throughout the movie because his character is mentally retarded. It's his character that brings some comic relief to the film. Bryce Dallas Howard as Ivy sort of confused me a bit because I wasn't sure if her character was blind or not. It finally came together after awhile, but you really had to sit there and watch it. Joaquin Phoenix as Lucius was fine, but nothing too spectacular. His character was just there.
All in all, the movie was fine and there weren't too many scary scenes at all.
SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What I don't understand is how Lucius could survive a knife being sliced into his stomach and his heart. How is that really possible? And What about a blind girl finding her way through the woods by herself, getting to her destination, and getting back safely. One last point. The plot twist, I would be sad that I was being lied to when there was real civilization outside their sanctuary, and it was a better life than the one I was living.
Rater #2
6/10. The most effective way to get a demographic to a movie where they
wouldn't normally go is by misleading trailers. If the trailers for
The Hulk depicted it to be an outstanding drama, like it was, I
would doubt it would get its money back. The same goes for The
Village. M. Night Shyamalan, known for his what-you-don't-see-scares-
you type of movies (The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs), now has
done The Village, which, according to the ads, is a scare-fest
around 1900. In reality, it's a period piece about some haunted
woods. The movie chronicles their interactions with each other, for
the most part.
In a small village surrounded by woods, the people of Covington live
in constant fear of the creatures that live in the woods around.
They have struck up a shaky deal with them-neither of them enter the
other's territory. Ivy (Bryce Dallas Howard) is blind and is in
mutual love with taciturn Lucius (Joaquin Phoenix). Since it seems
that simple-minded Noah (Adrien Brody) can enter the woods without
being harmed, Lucius tries it and ends up disturbing the balance
between the two life forms. Soon Lucius is put out of commission and
Ivy has to walk through the woods to get medicine. You know, even
though it's 1900, I would think that people would have more sense
than to have a blind person go through haunted woods by themselves.
Shyamalan knows how to create fear, and for a few fleeting seconds,
he does in The Village. The failing point is that there's barely any
moments in which that could happen. Most of the movie is spent on
the characters and unnecessary subplots that have no purpose.
Shyamalan knows the what-you-don't-see-scares-you way of going about
it, but with another overbearing score, James Newton Howard takes
the what-you-hear-scares-you way of going about it, and winds up
being almost farcical, which is what the movie becomes at times.
Seeing the creatures is one of the funniest moments in a movie this
year. I mean...come on! Still, when it is scary, it's pretty damn
intense. But for one minute out of a 108 minute movie, it's not a
good ratio.
Shyamalan is known for his twists at the end of movies. The Sixth
Sense had one that was truly shocking; Unbreakable's was also mind-
blowing but one I'd need to see again, but Signs' was just plain
silly. Many people feel that in both Signs and The Village he's
writing a script so he can have a twist at the end. The twist is
what basically saved this movie. It's a shocking twist, one that I
didn't guess, and most people didn't, also, even though they say they
did. It's much better than the stupidity of Signs' ending. That's
where the first hour and a half comes in. It's basically fluff, with
unnecessary subplots thrown in (including the love twist with
Sigourney Weaver and William Hurt) and a bunch of random characters.
Also, with the slow build-up of the creatures, instead of a slow pay-
off of slowly revealing the monsters, they come out all at once. And
as I said before, I cracked up when I saw them.
The acting here isn't as good as Shyamalan's others. Phoenix (who
seems to have taken over the wheel from Bruce Willis) isn't as good
as he was in Signs, surprisingly. Howard isn't worthy of all of this
praise, but she was still good. Weaver doesn't have much to do, but
Hurt totally owns the screen whenever he's on. If you're looking for
a reason to see this movie, see it for William Hurt. I'll probably
be killed for this, but I think Brody was better here than in The
Pianist. He seems to be having fun here. If you go into The Village
looking for a fun time, you probably won't find it. You may come out
of it with more than I did, but it has its moments, especially at
the end.
Rated PG-13 for a scene of violence and frightening situations.
Running time: 108 minutes
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