Spare yourself a visit to The Village

The Village follows M. Night Shyamalan's typical movies premise where the humans invariably represent innocence and are pitted against an invisible enemy of some sort. The identity of this "villain" is not revealed until an absurd and often confusing twist that alters the entire premise of the movie. In this respect, The Village is just like every other major film Shyamalan has produced; it leaves moviegoers feeling somehow cheated, as if they have already seen the movie before.

The sustaining feature in all of Shyamalan's films that continues to lure audiences is a superb atmosphere of tension and a fair dose of fear. Usually, Shyamalan is successful in leaving viewers with their hearts pounding wanting more. The Village, in contrast, is so tame and ineffective that you are left wondering why you paid to see it.

The "monster," which is the prime source of fear, is a sort of man-pig that inexplicably wears crude clothing and refrains from harming any villagers, even when it has the perfect opportunity. In fact, it is possibly the least frightening monster since the loveable giant in The Goonies (1985). After the hooded man-pig's presence has been agonizingly built up for an hour, Shyamalan destroys it with the obligatory twist, which additionally ruins the mood for the rest of the movie.

To be fair, Shyamalan crafts these twists for extra entertainment so that the audience will be more likely to remember specific moments throughout the movie such as quirky things characters said or a devious gesture that, in light of the twist, implies conspiracy. Unfortunately, the twists in The Village often expose gaping holes in the plot or paradoxes that tug relentlessly on the mind.

Ivy Walker (Bryce Dallas Howard) is a teenager who is smitten with Lucius Hunt (Jaoquin Phoenix). The collective performance of Howard and Phoenix is thoughtful and authentic, a refreshing respite from the rampant problems with the plot. The classically-trained William Hurt is Ivy's father, Edward Walker, and he achieves an on-the-mark sense of fatherliness towards the village he governs. Sigourney Weaver masterfully portrays Alice Hunt, Edward's counterpart and Lucius' mother. Alice is grace under fire as she is a single mother who must face the sudden quickening of pace around her once quiet life. Shyamalan also makes certain he places himself in the film, but while this may have worked for Alfred Hitchcock, Shyamalan tortures the screen with his role as a torpid minor villain.

The Village has its suspenseful moments and its scenes where the actors shine in their roles, but all in all, the film leaves viewers wanting more. The Village (107 minutes) is rated PG-13 for intense psychological pressure, dead animals and violence.