How people can think this unforgivable mess of a movie is the be all and end all of cinematic excellence is beyond me. I won't stoop so low as to insult anyone for liking it. I may question their taste in movies though.
Just so my review doesn't get lumped into a lot of the reviews on here, let me go on record by saying that...
A)I'm not an M. Night Shamalayan hater. B)I wasn't expecting "the twist". C)The plot didn't "go over my head". D)I wasn't expecting a horror film. E)I don't had ADD. F)I don't hate nor fear originality. G)I didn't let the critics sway my decision. H)Fill in any other silly conspiracy theory for anyone not liking it here.
Now, with that said, these were my problems with the movie and I'm going to explain this as calmly and respectfully as I possibly can...
For a movie that is suppose to be a fantasy film, it was incredibly bland and not very fantastic at all. A film like this is suppose to give the viewer a sense of wonder, amazement and the anticipation of what's going to happen next. All this did was literally bore me to sleep and that has never happen to me before.
A naked woman swimming in a pool at an apartment complex says her name is Story and she's a "narf" from The Blue World here to inspire a writer to write the book that will inspire a future president that will basically bring about world peace. Oh and there's a huge grass-wolf creature called a "scrunt" after her and a giant eagle she has to catch to get back to her world after she's done. Ummm... okay, that's all fine and good, but what truly bothers me is how the residences just automatically go along with this requiring no proof whatsoever.
No one thinks she's possibly insane, on drugs or even does something as logical as calling the police. They just agree to help her, no questions asked. I know there has to be some suspension of disbelief here, but not so much that reason is completely abandoned. There has to be some kind of grounding in reality to make the fantasy aspects stand out. This is where the film loses me and fails to get me back because there's no recognizable human behavior to be found here.
The pretentiousness and overall silliness is just too much to overlook and forgive. The whole film felt completely improvised, like M. Night pulled a bunch of stray ideas out of a hat, then strung them together without regard for logic, even internal logic. It had one bizarre, outlandish moment after another. As if the self-indulgent casting of himself as the gifted author who will inspire a future president wasn't bad enough, consider the scenes in which Story sits in a shower while all the other tenants stare at her as they try to find hidden messages in a crossword puzzle, where the little boy gets clues for helping her somehow by reading the sides of cereal boxes and of course, the blatantly obvious stab at his critics by turning one of them into scrunt chow. All of this is just beneath the dignity of a respectable filmmaker. With all that going on, how exactly are we suppose to take this movie as seriously as it takes itself?
With that said, the movie wasn't a total disaster. I can admit that, yes, the premise was original, the score and the cinematography were beautiful and the actors, despite the horrendous dialog they were stuck with, gave it their all, but that in and of itself wasn't enough to consider this mess remotely "inspirational", "brilliant", or "life-altering". Originality without any sense of real direction is just a huge waste of time, energy, talent and celluloid for all involved.
Just so my review doesn't get lumped into a lot of the reviews on here, let me go on record by saying that...
A)I'm not an M. Night Shamalayan hater. B)I wasn't expecting "the twist". C)The plot didn't "go over my head". D)I wasn't expecting a horror film. E)I don't had ADD. F)I don't hate nor fear originality. G)I didn't let the critics sway my decision. H)Fill in any other silly conspiracy theory for anyone not liking it here.
Now, with that said, these were my problems with the movie and I'm going to explain this as calmly and respectfully as I possibly can...
For a movie that is suppose to be a fantasy film, it was incredibly bland and not very fantastic at all. A film like this is suppose to give the viewer a sense of wonder, amazement and the anticipation of what's going to happen next. All this did was literally bore me to sleep and that has never happen to me before.
A naked woman swimming in a pool at an apartment complex says her name is Story and she's a "narf" from The Blue World here to inspire a writer to write the book that will inspire a future president that will basically bring about world peace. Oh and there's a huge grass-wolf creature called a "scrunt" after her and a giant eagle she has to catch to get back to her world after she's done. Ummm... okay, that's all fine and good, but what truly bothers me is how the residences just automatically go along with this requiring no proof whatsoever.
No one thinks she's possibly insane, on drugs or even does something as logical as calling the police. They just agree to help her, no questions asked. I know there has to be some suspension of disbelief here, but not so much that reason is completely abandoned. There has to be some kind of grounding in reality to make the fantasy aspects stand out. This is where the film loses me and fails to get me back because there's no recognizable human behavior to be found here.
The pretentiousness and overall silliness is just too much to overlook and forgive. The whole film felt completely improvised, like M. Night pulled a bunch of stray ideas out of a hat, then strung them together without regard for logic, even internal logic. It had one bizarre, outlandish moment after another. As if the self-indulgent casting of himself as the gifted author who will inspire a future president wasn't bad enough, consider the scenes in which Story sits in a shower while all the other tenants stare at her as they try to find hidden messages in a crossword puzzle, where the little boy gets clues for helping her somehow by reading the sides of cereal boxes and of course, the blatantly obvious stab at his critics by turning one of them into scrunt chow. All of this is just beneath the dignity of a respectable filmmaker. With all that going on, how exactly are we suppose to take this movie as seriously as it takes itself?
With that said, the movie wasn't a total disaster. I can admit that, yes, the premise was original, the score and the cinematography were beautiful and the actors, despite the horrendous dialog they were stuck with, gave it their all, but that in and of itself wasn't enough to consider this mess remotely "inspirational", "brilliant", or "life-altering". Originality without any sense of real direction is just a huge waste of time, energy, talent and celluloid for all involved.