The man knows how to manage tone.īut Shyamalan was never really a horror guy, at least not entirely.
And sure, generating suspense has been a proven part of his skill set, even in some sequences from his lesser movies. Really, this problem has been plaguing him ever since he got pigeonholed as some kind of Hitchcockian master-of-horror with The Sixth Sense. I think a lot of the disdain for Shaymalan comes from not quite understanding what his goals are why he operates the way he does. Unfortunately for you guys, I’m still a fan (though not necessarily of every movie), so just bear with me. For a lot of people, that was strike one, two, and three. It’s a modest pleasure, to be sure, but nevertheless a legitimate one.Īfter Earth, obviously, was written and directed by M. When I did, what I saw was a movie with a surprisingly strong sense of purpose a purpose strong enough to see it through despite the other problems it may have. I’m not going to claim the movie doesn’t have some occasional story issues ( Paul’s take is understandable), but it seemed like the critical community at large really took out their knives for this one in a way it didn’t deserve.Īs such, I didn’t get around to the movie until it came to a dollar theater in my area. Sometimes tallying flaws leads us to miss the big picture on a movie. Thing is, entertainment sometimes doesn’t work like a class assignment. The approach makes sense after all, that’s how you grade a term paper. A lot of criticism - film, television, or otherwise - seems to be about tallying flaws and giving a grade.