Movies News Talk
Respected but controversial director M. Night Shyamalan shares the reason he believes critics hate his films. Particularly in terms of horror and thrillers, the seasoned film director, producer, and screenwriter nowadays is a very powerful player in 21st century Movies. His long resume shows a total gross of $3.3 billion worldwide. Though Shyamalan's films have been immensely popular commercially, over the years critics have given them varied reviews.
Shyamalan talks about why some of his several films have not been properly accepted by critics in a recent interview with The Atlantic. Speaking especially about Lady In The Water, his 2006 fantasy thriller that was critically criticized, he says that what many would consider to be "chaos," he views as a sort of "jazz." He also notes that he is an immigrant, hence his lack of telling immigrant experiences most likely explains why his films are not popular. "At the end of the day, I am an immigrant and I am telling stories not about immigrants," he says. Making Movies about Indian mathematicians or something else like that sometimes seems like it would be simpler for me to stomach. I would then benefit from the doubt.
Starting with a few critical and commercial successes that soon established Shyamalan as one of the most gifted up-and-coming directors around, his remarkable career started With an 86% on Rotten Tomatoes, his best score on the internet to date, his breakthrough, The Sixth Sense, got him two Academy Award nods. Critics of later films including Unbreakable and Signs also gave Shyamalan's writing great marks.
Critics have not particularly welcomed his more recent films, though. Originally intended to launch a trilogy, 2010's The Last Airbender was shelved due to a negative reception from reviewers and bad box office results. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 5% approval rating; critics call Shyamalan's direction joyful but the story unworkable. Among the several problems afflicting the film is also poor application of 3D animation.
Shyamalan returned to form in 2016; critics mostly gave the film great marks for his deft homage to Alfred Hitchcock as well as James Mcavoy's superb acting. Critics once more gave the 2019 follow-up negative marks, nevertheless. With a dismal 37% on Rotten Tomatoes, the film was said to be uninspiring and unsatisfactory. Though he is still controversial, a series of subsequent films have seen Shyamalan enjoy a rebirth of sorts starting with The Visit in 2015 (and excludes the noted Split follow-up Glass). Though reviews are not yet available, early reactions to Trap, his most recent movie, which stars Josh Hartnett, have been positive. August 2 will see the movie open.