(Okay, let's see how my writing holds-up when saving it offline... [img]wink.gif[/img] )

I was surprised how much I actually enjoyed this movie! Granted, most of Manoj's movies are enjoyed, but this was a surprise treat!

First-off, he actually used a full cast of characters, and didn't fill up half of them with creepy children this time. Yeah, there was one kid, who could read clairvoyant prophetic messages off the sides of cereal boxes from the cupboard (I shit you not!), but the kid wasn't as clumsily & obviously used as in 'Signs'. Besides, the kid played a small role in a movie with a cast of about 7 important characters. The adults took the cake in this flick.

Very impressive was how the large number of characters actually felt like fleshed-out 'people', rather than shallow characters with no existence beyond the line or two needed to progress the script. Example: the Punk in the military recruiters office in 'Signs'. His only purpose was to give a couple lines for exposition about Jhoacin (sp?) Phoenix's character. There was nothing to give a feeling he was more than a cardboard cutout. The characters in LITW were meaty enough to actually feel like 'real people'.

I guess it shows that M. Night has really grown storytelling-wise. Not that his earlier movies weren't good, but this is so much more.

Being most impressed with 'Unbreakable', of all his earlier films, found this one to be similar in a good way. Unbreakable was a superhero origin, without the tights & cape. It happened to a real person in the real world. LITW is similar. Not as superhero origin though; but a bed-time story, a fairy-tale, mythology told from parent to child through the generations. There is no "twist ending", which I guess IS the twist ending. It's just a fairy-tale bed-time story, but it's happening in the present world to regular people. Same in both, you're told exactly what the movie is right in the opening credits.

Quibbles/problems…

1)- CG animals. Don't use them! Granted, it wasn't as badly done as Mr. Alien from 'Signs', as most often it was used in dark shadowy shots and edited quickly. But still, there were scenes which immediately reminded me of the shitty CG wolves from 'The Day After Tomorrow'. If you don't have the budget for 'Jurassic Park' detail & realism, find a puppet/animatronic/prosthetic way of putting your beastie in full light.

2)- over-emotional MUSIC. I usually don't pay much attention to the score in movies, but this was overpowering! "this is a tearjerker-scene, start crying right …about….NOW!" Puh-leese! I felt less emotional tugging from the score at the end of 'Saving Private Ryan'!

3)- M. Night appearance. You know there had to be one. Granted, he played a good role, which wasn't a single-scene cameo this time. Like said earlier, all characters are well-written & fleshed-out beyond expectations, this one was no exception. BUT, the role he gave himself was just over-the-top. I think it might actually be a spoiler to say much about Manoj's cameo if you haven't seen the movie yet, even though he's not drastically important to the script, but for what happens to him after the movie. (If you've seen it, you'll also laugh and/or groan about the character he gave himself).

End of quibbles/problems.

I thought it was a fun movie, an enjoyable timekiller which (despite the score) left my nose getting a bit runny at the end. Much better than either Signs or The Village.

<font color="#5b5b5b" size="1">[ August 06, 2006 01:35 PM: Message edited by: reved ]</font>