DEVIL (D-)

[deconstructor]

At this point, M. Night Shyamalan has become the Kevin Smith of thriller movies: Still living off the fact that his first two movies were low-budget, out-of-nowhere hits (Sixth Sense and Unbreakable for Night; Clerks and Chasing Amy for Smith). His movies (he writes/produces here) still inexplicably getting greenlit despite a long list of galactically stupid films.

Here, his anti-Midas touch is all over Devil, a moronic waste of time.

So, let me get this straight...

You’re the devil. Your mission is twofold: to punish the wicked and create enough havoc among us earth-dwellers to the point where our collective faith in humanity is weakened.

You do this by jamming a bunch of seemingly random strangers into an ill-functioning elevator and getting them to turn on each other. But instead of orchestrating a devious chess match with unwitting pawns, the devil (who’s apparently not all that bright) decides merely to play a game of –whack-a-mole in the dark.

The movie actually starts in promising fashion… the collection of people. The stopping elevator. The building tension. The annoying guy. The claustrophobic guy. The bitchy old lady. The guy clearly guarding a secret. The hot chick. It could’ve been “No Exit” set in an elevator. Alas…

Things continue fairly well as the movie’s first third moves along – especially when the lights crap out and what appears to be the titular character making an appearance. The result whips the five strangers into a froth and wondering who can and can’t be trusted. Alliances are made and accusations made.

And then…


What the hell happened? You had them, Beelezebub. You could’ve just kept pushing buttons on the sly and demonstrating that, when the chips are down, people will resort to the core savage nature. You could’ve gone all Man in Black on us:

They come, they fight, they corrupt and it’s always the same.

People would’ve freaked. It would’ve been the subject of every news show for weeks. The New York Post would’ve run 20 straight headlines about it.

But nooooo! You have to make it so hit-you-over-the-head obvious that it’s you. You even let yourself get caught on videotape. Huh?? I don’t mean to throw your own words at you, but “that’s much too vulgar a display of power.”

Without giving anything away, you do yourself a major disservice by making it about you… now people will be scared into being good (and the Church’s power grows once again… thanks for that) and they’ll actually have hope and belief in the existence of god. How does that help you? Don’t you just want people to feel despair and be petrified in their fellow man?

But enough of the existential crap

But the bottom line is, who cares? Devil is not only heavy handed, it cheats throughout the whole thing – inventing plot and character twists designed only to throw you off track (odd alliances, off-and-on claustrophobia…). It’s laughable.

The Verdict
I know… like you, I saw the trailer and was intrigued. But this is a kick in your entertainment balls. Skip it and thank me later. D-

[rome]

thanks....

[HoundOfValinor]

it wasn't that bad, it was better than the last airbender and the happening. m night seriously has to get his act together, if he wants people to start taking his movies seriously and to spend money to see his movies once again.

[Smiert Spionam]

You do realize that M. Night merely came up with the concept and didn't, however, write the script or direct.

Just a lil' FYI...

[HoundOfValinor]

yes i am aware, but its still his name on the front cover. he still wrote the story, and everyone sees it as an m night shyamalan film.

[Smiert Spionam]

Originally Posted by HoundOfValinor

yes i am aware, but its still his name on the front cover. he still wrote the story, and everyone sees it as an m night shyamalan film.

My comment was directed at the OP and if by "everyone" you mean "people who don't use IMDb," you are quite right.

[HoundOfValinor]

its M Night Shyamalan's movie, if it wasn't for him it wouldn't exist.