Okay, so here’s the deal: M. Night Shyamalan is a name that polarizes many film fans. There are those who continue to love The Sixth Sense – which, let’s be honest, we all loved the first time around – and then the haters who now think that the twist ending was a cop-out. There are those, like me, who think Unbreakable is one of those great underrated superhero fables. And then there are those who lump it right in with his Signs, The Village, Lady in the Water and The Happening as a meandering, muddled mess.
That doesn’t mean people ever stopped seeing his films, though. The Happening did boffo business. Hollywood may not love the guy – but there’s no way they don’t love his bottom line.
Well, listen up: Shyamalan may have gone off the deep end as of late with his scripts, but the guy’s always been brilliant with his ability to create indelible images. If you’ve ever seen one of his films, you never forget the moments: That terrified look in Haley Joel Osment’s eyes, the opening train sequence in Unbreakable with the camera shifting back and forth, the home invasion of Signs, those creepy hooded dudes in The Village.
This is the reason that people – us included – are excited to see what he does with The Last Airbender, bringing his distinctive think-big style to a story that he didn’t write. And I think after people see the ferocious TV spot slated to run during this weekend’s Super Bowl – which you can see below – there are going to be a whole lot of other Shyamalan haters curious to see if maybe the old man has a few new tricks up his sleeve.
And just think: No twist ending this time!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1_QiuP12qQ&feature=player_embedded]
Are you willing to give Shyamalan another chance?