ROTTEN TOMATOES: Early Reaction to the "Lady in the Water"

Early Reaction to the "Lady in the Water"

by Scott Weinberg | June 27, 2006

M. Night Shyamalan's newest feature, "Lady in the Water," opens in a few weeks, but Mike Sampson over at JoBlo's was able to sit in on an early screening, and even penned an early review.

As usual, I won't read the piece, but Mike starts out by saying "I was one of the lucky few invited to see an early screening...," which tells me he probably liked the flick. Cool. I've yet to make heads or tails of the trailers and such, but as a big fan of "The Sixth Sense" and "Unbreakable," I'm always curious to see what M. Night is cooking up next. ("The Village" notwithstanding.)

Starring Paul Giamatti and Bryce Dallas Howard, "Lady in the Water" opens on July 21st.

Related Items

Celeb:	M. Night Shyamalan
	Paul Giamatti
	Bryce Dallas Howard
Movie:	The Sixth Sense
	Unbreakable
	The Village

(1-20 of 32 posts) | Reply

Derbeste writes:
on Jun 27 2006 08:41 AM

[b]Reviews better be good[/b]
...or there is no way I'm going to even consider another M. Night flick. Everything about him is just old hat now.

(Reply to this)

FILMCZY writes:
on Jun 27 2006 09:15 AM

In reply to this comment (#838962)
He's only directed three movies. Are we to write-off every director who doesn't score a 100% with each new film? Would you say the same of Hitchcock or Spielberg?

(Reply to this)

The_Corrector writes:
on Jun 27 2006 09:37 AM

In reply to this comment (#838963)
Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs, The Viilage = 4

Only 50% are good

(Reply to this)

antickpix writes:
on Jun 27 2006 09:40 AM

err...Sixth Sense wasn't his first movie..

(Reply to this)

ninjaandy writes:
on Jun 27 2006 09:42 AM

Admittedly "Signs" and "Village" aren't up to the standards of the first two, but I wouldn't say they were bad movies. I think part of the problem, especially with Village, is that people expect every one of his movies to rely on the twist, which takes away from every other part of the movie if the twist is weak or obvious (again, mostly a problem in Village).

(Reply to this)

wakeofinsanity writes:
on Jun 27 2006 09:43 AM

yeah, I'm going to say that this will be a good one. Can't wait.

(Reply to this)

my nine inches writes:
on Jun 27 2006 09:56 AM

[b]come on people[/b]
yes the sixth sense was great as well as unbreakable but how are u gonna hate on signs it was a very good film and u could tell m. night put alot into it. and as for the village a movie i did enjoy, if u dont like the movie at least appreciate all te effort that went into making that film. m. night is very hardworking and im hopingthat lady in the water isnt a let down

(Reply to this)

new12play writes:
on Jun 27 2006 10:48 AM

I think Signs is his best movie. Hey Corrector, you're forgetting Wide Awake. That would be 5.

(Reply to this)

lovelykeira writes:
on Jun 27 2006 11:48 AM

I never have seen Wide Awake, and The Village was a huge dissapointment. But I loved Unbreakable, The Sixth Sense, and Signs. I'm really looking forward to this movie, it's one of my most anticipated movies of the year.

(Reply to this)

LilAl writes:
on Jun 27 2006 12:02 PM

I disagree..I love ALL four of the movies you guys are talking about (haven't seen Wide Awake) and the Village is probably my favorite, with Unbreakable a close close second. I think the reason people are so disappointed in his movies is because the trailers make people believe that the movie is going to be horror/thriller movie but they rarely are. The Village is a love story and Signs is really a character-based story. I think M. Night is a genius and I can't wait to see Lady in the Water, and if it's anything like any of his previous four movies, it's going to be a huge hit!

(Reply to this)

new12play writes:
on Jun 27 2006 01:52 PM

I can't believe Disney let this guy go. Should've pulled him back in like Pixar. I see this movie being one of the biggest hits of the year, if the crossover appeal to kids is there.

(Reply to this)

Derbeste writes:
on Jun 27 2006 02:03 PM

[b]I'll rephrase[/b]
After my Dissapointment in "Signs" and "The Village", and to a lessor extend, "Unbreakable" (sorry, I didn't like it), I find M. Night predictable. I got the twists (or attempts at twists) in Village and Signs less than half way through the movies. I admit "Unbreakable" did broadside me, but it just didn't have the impact that "The Sixth Sense" did.

Perhaps that is my problem. I compare all his movies to "The Sixth Sense". That movie is one of my favorites of all time.

However, I think that is M. Night's problem too. I think HE compares all his movies to "6th" and is trying WAAAAAY too hard to recreate it over and over again. But instead, it just seems like he has run out of ideas.

Just my opinion though. If you all like "Lady In The Water", please be sure to post it. As I implied in my previous post, if the movie gets a good reaction, I don't mind eating crow. :)

(Reply to this)

ozoz writes:
on Jun 27 2006 03:36 PM

In reply to this comment (#838964)
Sixth sense, unbreakable, signs,the village, and wide awake= 5

(Reply to this)

CrazyGhost78 writes:
on Jun 27 2006 04:58 PM

Everyone talking about Wide Awake, it's not even comparable to his others. I shame him for making it.

That said, I liked his four 'big' films, and while I completely agree The Village was his weakest and had a predictable twist, it was still entertaining.

My ranking:
1. Sixth Sense
2. Signs (very close to tieing number one, but I love Bruce Willis so much..)
3. Unbreakable (unfortunatly I just didn't feel the magic with this one, despite Bruce.)
4. The Village

and for you nitpickers,

way less than 5. Wide Awake.

(Reply to this)

tylosaur writes:
on Jun 27 2006 06:38 PM

WIDE AWAKE is not his first film. Its not on RT but in 1992, Shyamalan wrote, directed, starred, and produced PRAYING WITH ANGER where he is an American exchange student in India. It was released by Northern Arts Entertainment and received mild-to-poor reviews.

(Reply to this)

cowsfan writes:
on Jun 27 2006 07:18 PM

I'll continue to see what he does. I didn't care for the 'The Village' but his other big hollywood movies have been entertaining enough. Besdies that second 'Lady In The Water' was a big improvement over the first and adds another element to the story. I can't wait. This summer has sucked so far.

(Reply to this)

suggsmar writes:
on Jun 27 2006 07:20 PM

In reply to this comment (#838975)
[b]how can you..[/b]
how can you rate 'Signs' so high? i found it abomidably stupid movie. It was like the aliens were stupid red neck back wood aliens.. i mean , comon, there weakness was tap water? they came down from space but can't get pass a basic door with a lock ? i can remember that seen, everyone sees the alien space ship, and i can just imagine the aliens saying ' oh shoot, they see us. who forgot to cloak the friggin ship? was it you billy bob? well, quit complainen and turn the gosh dern thing on.

No, after the sixth sense, then unbreakable, there is a huge fall off in how good his movies are. the village is okay, but not great by any means.

(Reply to this)

FlyFree7 writes:
on Jun 27 2006 08:44 PM

[b]His Best Two...[/b]
were Sixth Sense and Unbreakable, but I liked Signs as well. The village just didn't feel right to me, even without the let down of an ending, it felt artificial and unecessarily slow. Too bad because there were some sweet and very interesting moments in it....OH and shocking too-when the main character got stabbed, THAT was well done and unexpected.

I'd rank the movies as follows:

1. Sixth Sense
2. Unbreakable
3. Signs
4. The Village

I hope The Lady in the Water is good-would hate to see a trend of worse and worse movies coming from such a talented guy.

(Reply to this)

directour22 writes:
on Jun 27 2006 11:14 PM

I liked The Village so much more than Signs which i did not really like in the first place becasue they ruined it by showing what the aliens look like the whole movie they did not show the aliens so everyone had their own personal image of what the aliens looked like and made it so much more terrifying but then at the end we see this peice of sh-t alien looking green stick that is suppost to be scary
BOOO
The Village was so much better
I liked Unbreakable, it had that dark atmosphere that i really like in movies
Sixth Sense well you know I can't say anything that hasnt been said
Lady in the Water looks great

(Reply to this)

lonechicken writes:
on Jun 28 2006 08:52 AM

[b]JoBlo's review[/b]
Didn't read the spoilers, just saw that the reaction was very positive. But what's the deal with this remark?

"When was the last time we had a great fantasy film to watch? It�s been quite some time ... LADY IN THE WATER is the best film of its kind since THE PRINCESS BRIDE..."

So did 7 little movies slip this guy's mind? LOTR and Harry Potter?

(Reply to this)

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