September 2, 2024
Riley (Ariel Donoghue) was a very big fan of pop artist Lady Raven (Saleka Night Shyamalan). As a reward for her high grades, Riley's father Cooper (Josh Hartnett) bought tickets for the two of them to watch her idol's big concert in a Philadelphia stadium. During the concert, Riley noted her dad to be behaving strangely. He kept going out of the auditorium repeatedly for various reasons, leaving Riley behind.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the stadium, police were setting up to entrap a notorious serial killer codenamed "The Butcher," whom they believe was attending the concert that night based on a tip and a torn receipt. The operation was led by senior criminal profiler Dr. Josephine Grant (Hayley Mills), who was constantly briefing her officers on their earphones information about the man they were looking for.
This is the latest project written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. The impact of his 1998 breakthrough hit "The Sixth Sense" was so strong, his name is still a draw at the box office, even if the quality had been pretty much inconsistent, with major clunkers like "The Last Airbender" (2010) and "After Earth" (2013). Even if nothing really matched the impact of "The Sixth Sense," his forte is really the psychological thriller.
Here he explored the dual life of a ruthless sadistic serial killer, who was also a devoted dad to his daughter. The ageless boy-next-door looks and demeanor of Josh Hartnett worked very well for his believable portrayal of Cooper. He can charm his way through his day jobs as family man and firefighter, without giving away that he was actually a psychopathic murderer. Hartnett was positively chilling in that wordless final scene in the van.
However, Shyamalan had put in so many unbelievable contrivances in the service of his suspense, like Cooper's talent as escape artist (the limousine scene) or the laxity of police in security (the bicycle scene). He seemed to have forgotten that pop concerts have no long intermissions when fans can buy merch and snacks. The nepotistic decision to cast Shyamalan's daughter Saleka as Lady Raven proved a major misstep. While she was a good singer, she obviously could not handle the acting demands of her role. 6/10
No comments:
Post a Comment