Home Cool News Coaxial Reviews Zone Chat Contact Us Sign in

Herc's Seen THE VILLAGE!!

I am – Hercules!!

M. Night Shyamalan is a divider, not a uniter. There aren’t a lot of filmmakers as divisive as this guy.

I love the writer-director's “Unbreakable” and “Signs” almost as much as I love his “The Sixth Sense.” Flawed though the later projects may be, I've long thought them two of the most relentlessly entertaining character-driven movies ever engineered. When I stumble across one of them on HBO or ABC I have entirely too much difficulty tuning out before the credits roll.

I predict that those who share my love for both “Unbreakable” and “Signs” will share my love for “The Village.” Otherwise, all bets are off.

For the dozen or so Ain’t It Cool readers who haven’t heard, Shyamalan’s “The Village” depicts a small rural community long segregated from the rest of the world by its fear of a shadowy and otherworldly presence that has taken to dwelling in the surrounding woods.

To deflect the most burning question attending this project, I will say that too much is made generally of Shyamalan's penchant for Serlingesque finales. I harbored suspicions about where the story was headed, but I certainly didn’t guess every plot point, and I certainly couldn’t predict the intricacies of the film’s characterization, comic dialogue, narrative invention and wiggens-worthiness.

There are problems. In retrospect, “The Village” contains some of the worst flaws of logic Shyamalan has ever ventured. (Wouldn’t it make far far far more sense for Willam Hurt’s character to ultimately brave the woods instead of his blind daughter?)

But by the same token I would never consider not recommending "The Village." Its lead characters are enormously likeable and compelling, and every scene left me anxious to learn what would happen next. The sureness of Shyamalan’s manipulations and attention to detail suggest he still brings to his storytelling an unusual quantity of intellectual investment.

And while “Village” is enormously effective at thoroughly creeping out its audience (when the action moves to the deep woods, my date, all 112 pounds of her, gripped my left arm long enough and hard enough to effectively put it to sleep), what remains with me days later is how much I enjoyed the evolution of the love story at the center of the enterprise, which morphs the movie from a great dark romantic comedy to a great dark romantic drama to a plenty gripping adventure-thriller.

At the end of the day, I suspect even Shyamalan’s worst detractors will have difficulty saying “The Village” is devoid of virtues.

Herc’s rating for “The Village”:

****

The Hercules T. Strong Rating System:
***** better than any of us deserve
**** enormously entertaining
*** actually worth your valuable time
** as horrible as most stuff on TV
* makes you quietly pray for a fire





Looking for bumper stickers, plush toys and girls’ underwear covered with cartoon double-amputees? Visit The Herc Store!

AddThis Social Bookmark Button
Click for previous story Talk Back More on this story Click for next story

User login

Reader Talkback

Reshot ending
by Moa Kaka
Jul 29th, 2004
04:06:40 PM
112 Pounds?
by Purple Toupee
Jul 29th, 2004
04:12:13 PM
Signs
by andenu
Jul 29th, 2004
04:23:02 PM
So is it...
by Gilderoy
Jul 29th, 2004
04:23:44 PM
M Night is over-rated. his story logic is half-assed.
by g_mo_d
Jul 29th, 2004
04:24:13 PM
112 pounds of her what was on you?
by Big Bad Clone
Jul 29th, 2004
04:29:59 PM
Herc should've saved money...
by Childe Roland
Jul 29th, 2004
04:45:05 PM
What I hated about SIGNS was M. Night Shyamalan's cameo and spee
by riskebiz
Jul 29th, 2004
04:46:55 PM
why mention the weight of your date?
by The Data
Jul 29th, 2004
04:48:33 PM
my dates usually weigh 150 and over...
by Russman
Jul 29th, 2004
04:59:02 PM
112 pounds isn't necessarily anorexic.
by FluffyUnbound
Jul 29th, 2004
05:05:27 PM
The Data, you revealed a lot about yourself
by MrCere
Jul 29th, 2004
05:05:58 PM
Chicago Tribune calls "The Village," an engrossing thriller!" "V
by user id indeed!
Jul 29th, 2004
05:13:36 PM
112 Pounds Eh?
by Choda Boy
Jul 29th, 2004
05:25:58 PM
Watered down
by Childe Roland
Jul 29th, 2004
05:39:45 PM
THE VILLAGE
by Forestal
Jul 29th, 2004
05:48:29 PM
I hate...
by DocPazuzu
Jul 29th, 2004
05:53:26 PM
The New York Times just burned down The Village
by johnquay
Jul 29th, 2004
05:53:38 PM
All I'm saying is ...
by riskebiz
Jul 29th, 2004
06:18:56 PM
Lay off Herc, you tools!
by Huffy_Henry
Jul 29th, 2004
06:20:47 PM
I, and my 175 lbs date like Unbreakable and Signs
by Russman
Jul 29th, 2004
06:26:37 PM
Yes...
by DocPazuzu
Jul 29th, 2004
06:29:35 PM
good god...
by rotten666
Jul 29th, 2004
06:37:30 PM
Nosferatu Jones... ugh.. let me take off my broken glasses for t
by Russman
Jul 29th, 2004
06:41:18 PM
plausibility
by cactusboy
Jul 29th, 2004
06:41:23 PM
Calm down, Shayamalan isn't going to come to your house and murd
by WeedyMcSmokey
Jul 29th, 2004
06:49:19 PM
rotten666 - your so damn wrong
by WeedyMcSmokey
Jul 29th, 2004
06:54:37 PM
weight
by ewokstew
Jul 29th, 2004
06:55:17 PM
nails:
by DocPazuzu
Jul 29th, 2004
06:58:34 PM
Pretentious? Hack? Huh?
by AFKnightus
Jul 29th, 2004
07:11:09 PM
Herc holds a masterful control of the English language
by Immortal_Fish
Jul 29th, 2004
07:58:26 PM
HA! Take THAT you M. Knight haters!
by slone13
Jul 29th, 2004
08:02:49 PM
Hack???!!
by slone13
Jul 29th, 2004
08:06:27 PM
112 Pounds?
by Doc Zoidy
Jul 29th, 2004
08:10:34 PM
Yeah...
by Senzafine
Jul 29th, 2004
08:19:26 PM
man, TB'ers
by 81666
Jul 29th, 2004
08:28:37 PM
(Signs) It's not germs...it's just water
by MC Lovecraft
Jul 29th, 2004
08:29:17 PM
"112 pounds"... that's a little more than 50 kg, right? I don't
by SalvatoreGravano
Jul 29th, 2004
08:51:36 PM
Oh, yes - The Wrath of God.
by SalvatoreGravano
Jul 29th, 2004
09:02:32 PM
I give Herc's girl five stars!
by Tracheotomy Man
Jul 29th, 2004
09:46:14 PM
Man O' Man!
by monkeyboyjunior
Jul 29th, 2004
10:06:30 PM
Is anyone else around here tired of hearing about SHAUN OF THE D
by hauptman
Jul 29th, 2004
10:14:14 PM
user id indeed!
by Acerbic Norseman
Jul 29th, 2004
10:16:17 PM
so... this isn't so much a review as it is telling people to see
by Insane Tiki
Jul 29th, 2004
10:26:24 PM
I wish I had a 112-pound date to take this movie. Correction:
by DarthCorleone
Jul 29th, 2004
10:45:59 PM
Advice for future reviews....
by Yossarian
Jul 29th, 2004
10:48:51 PM
112pounds aint that skinny
by speed
Jul 29th, 2004
10:58:04 PM
Signs=ending ruined it fo me
by Acerbic Norseman
Jul 29th, 2004
11:06:01 PM
girlfriend 112 pounds: translation
by SimpsonsQuoteMan
Jul 30th, 2004
12:27:58 AM
Monkeyboyjunior
by SimpsonsQuoteMan
Jul 30th, 2004
12:30:56 AM
112 Pounds Of Fun
by Rebeck
Jul 30th, 2004
01:00:46 AM
Serlingesque, as in Rod Serling?
by lukeprog
Jul 30th, 2004
01:29:16 AM
Prepared to Hate...
by spazzmeister
Jul 30th, 2004
01:38:17 AM
It takes a village to bore a child
by Mechakong
Jul 30th, 2004
04:03:01 AM
Yay...more form America's favorite Overrated Hack.
by HavocZer0
Jul 30th, 2004
04:45:00 AM
HERE IT IS: DUH SPOILER!!!!!
by iceicebaby
Jul 30th, 2004
07:03:16 AM
"...my date, all 112 pounds of her..."
by Spike Fett
Jul 30th, 2004
10:35:46 AM
It is possible...
by Childe Roland
Jul 30th, 2004
11:17:55 AM
Gah-damn enough already!
by Psynapse
Jul 30th, 2004
02:32:55 PM
OOPS
by Psynapse
Jul 30th, 2004
02:36:35 PM
112 pounds? Isn't that a lot for a blow up doll? Did you fill 'h
by Big Bad Clone
Jul 30th, 2004
03:31:03 PM
The Village
by MadBunny
Jul 31st, 2004
03:02:48 AM
You can't argue with this
by porco_rossi
Jul 31st, 2004
01:34:59 PM
He Lied!
by dvdbob
Aug 1st, 2004
05:29:36 PM

Quick Talkback

Please login to post talkback.