Shyamalan Twofer: A Review of “Trap” and “The Watchers”

Shyamalan Twofer: A Review of Trap and The Watchers

I remember going to see The Sixth Sense in the theater when I was a wee lad of the age of 19. It was a layered film, with psychological and supernatural themes. Tension, great character development, Haley Joel Osment when he was still a kid, Donnie Wahlberg, and a twist ending that hit you over the head and had you leaving the theater wondering what the hell had just happened.

And then Unbreakable, a thriller where a man discovers he has extraordinary abilities after a train crash, and at the end you find out it’s a freaking superhero movie. This was long before the days before the MCU, and comic fans were pretty starved for good content on the big screen.

After that came Signs, which if you’ve ever read “Beyond the Beyond“, you know I’d be one of the first in line for. Aliens, Rory Culkin, pre-meltdown Mel Gibson. It had it all.

The Village came after, and though it was a little slow, I dug it. And the ending was strong. Another twist, of course.

Then things went to shit. The Happening I saw in the theater, as well, just like every other Shyamalan movie. I was pumped. I was also jazzed. I had an XL popcorn and a large fruit punch, some Sour Patch Kids to top everything off and those tasty rainbow bacon candies you sometimes see in the theater. It was going to be epic.

But the film was about plants trying to kill everyone. It was a heavy handed ecological message-filled disaster that had Mark Walberg and the girl from Elf running from the wind.

It was so bad, I pretty much stopped seeing M. Knight’s films after that. I caught a few if they had buzz, but I skipped The Last Airbender, After Earth, and a few others. Glass and Split were good, and they rounded out the Unbreakable trilogy and were more films that showcased the amazing range and talent of James McAvoy. Old was terrible. Knock at the Cabin Door was decent.

My point is, M. Knight Shyamalayn had three INCREDIBLE movies in a row, but the last twenty years have really been hit or miss.

Well, ALL OF THAT CHANGES with Trap. I’m just kidding… it doesn’t change at all.

The premise is that Cooper (Josh Hartnett) and his daughter Riley (Ariel Donoghue) are going to see a Taylor Swift-like concert starring Lady Rave (Saleka Shyamalan). As FBI and police start surrounding the venue, it becomes clear that things are not what they seem. While Cooper talks to a t-shirt vendor, he is told that the notorious serial killer called The Butcher is somewhere in the venue, and the concert is nothing but a trap for him.

The movie is, for the first half, a fun ride that reminds me of some of the work of Hitchcock. But then it takes a turn to the unbelievable, and something that I always think is the kiss of death for any movie… it’s comical when it isn’t supposed to be. Logic is swallowed by massive plot holes. The twist is trash. I want my two hours back.

However, Hartnett and co. prevail. The acting is great, and seeing him in this particular role (especially being a kid of the 90s) somehow made me give this film a little more grace than I might normally. Bonus points for the Kid Kudi cameo.

Ishana Night Shyamalan makes her directorial debut in The Watchers, a film about a young woman named Mina (Dakota Fanning) who works in a pet store in Galway, Ireland. En route to deliver a golden conure parrot to a zoo in Belfast, her car breaks down in a remote, dark forest with nothing around for hundreds of miles.

I don’t want to give too much away here, as it’s one of those films where the less you know going in, the better, but it’s obvious to me that Shyamalan learned a great deal about tone, atmosphere, and filmmaking in general while helping her father on his last several projects (as uneven as those projects might have been).

This film blends suspense, horror, and mystery with Celtic folklore (a subject I find quite interesting), to create something similar to what M. Knight did with Lady in the Water: a modern day fairy tale.

Now, this film currently holds a 38% on Rotten Tomatoes, so maybe I’m in the minority of people who actually enjoyed it. Horror/suspense films can be hard to gauge by reading reviews (unless, of course, you’re reading Eastern Sierra Now’s excellent movie review, natch), and this one seems to be no different. If you like folklore and mythology, and you enjoyed M. Night’s earlier films, you’ll probably like this one.

Trap: 1.8/4 stars

The Watchers: 3.5/4 stars

TM Rush