M. Night Shyamalanis certainly a divisive filmmaker, but one of his movies is often unfairly labeled as the beginning of his decline. Shyamalan exploded onto the scene with hisbrilliantThe Sixth Sensein 1999. While it is a common complaint that the filmmaker never seemed to recapture the greatness of his first big hit, it wasn’t until later that his reputation suffered.
Shyamalan’s movies are distinctly his own, but his style and writing are not for everyone. His surprise hitSplithelped launch a comeback of sorts for Shyamalan, following a series of poorly received movies. However, one of his early movies is often lumped in with the disappointments, despite deserving better.
Signs Is A Better M. Night Shyamalan Movie Than It Gets Credit For
The Flawed Ending Is A Small Part Of A Great Movie
Following the success ofThe Sixth SenseandUnbreakable,Signswas a movie that really cemented M. Night Shyamalan as a filmmaker whose name alone could stir up excitement. The fact that he was dealing with an alien story was even more exciting.
It wasSigns' infamous ending that really painted it in a bad light, with many feeling that it ruined the rest of the movie.
Signsstars Mel Gibsonas a widowed priest who has lost faith. When crop circles begin appearing on his farm property, he does all he can to protect his family from the potential dangers surrounding them. The movie was a massive box office hit, with over $400 million at the worldwide box office (viaBox Office Mojo).
However, the backlash againstSignscame quickly as many fans began criticizing Shyamalan’s somewhat stilted dialogue and melodrama. Of course, it wasSigns' infamous ending that really painted it in a bad light, with many feeling that itruined the rest of the movie.
While the ending is a disappointment that hasn’t improved much over the years, with enough distance from the initial reaction, it isn’t as detrimental to the overall project. Up until that ending,Signswas a pretty effective sci-fi thriller with one of the most effective slow-burn approaches of a big studio horror movie like this.
Shyamalan controls the tension of the movie so well, filling the entire movie with a sense of unease. When the thrills do kick in, they are brilliant, such as Gibson’s Graham spotting an alien on his roof and the famous newscast of the alien stalking outside a house.
The crop circles inSignsare done without CGI.
It would have been nice for the movie to stick the landing more effectively after these great moments, butSignsclearly shows that Shyamalan was operating at a high level as a filmmaker. In fact,Signswas his last great movie before his decline.
When M. Night Shyamalan’s Decline Really Started
The Village Marked A Downfall
M. Night Shyamalan was in fine form when makingSigns, but his decline sadly started with his very next movie. Despite the somewhat mixed reaction toSigns, The Villagewas still met with a lot of excitement when it was released in 2004. The mysterious marketing further added to the anticipation.
The reception ofThe Villageproved that audiences and critics were no longer enamored with Shyamalan, and that only worsened with his next movie,Lady in the Water.
Unfortunately,the smaller issues that showed themselves inSignsbecame damaging problems inThe Village. Shyamalan’s dialogue was starting to feel overwritten and cheesy, especially in the very specific setting of the movie. Most of all,The Village’s endingwas not only a letdown, but it destroyed the concept of the movie.
The reception ofThe Villageproved that audiences and critics were no longer enamored with Shyamalan, and that only worsened with his next movie,Lady in the Water.It was beginning to feel as though Shyamalan was believing his own hype and chasing thetwist ending ofThe Sixth Sense, resulting in indulgent movies that forced unsatisfying conclusions.
Things got worse with a string of movies that Shyamalan felt ill-suited for, includingAfter EarthandThe Last Airbender. Thankfully,Splitfelt like a return to form for the filmmaker, and he has since been working steadily on original movies that, while divisive, feel like he is back to making his movies, likeSignswas.
