I’ve had a love/hate relationship with M. Night time Shyamalan over time. Typically he delivers the products and surprises me with a terrific film! Then there are movies like Entice, the place he appears to overlook the mark fully, leaving me extra bewildered than entertained.
Entice was a disappointment. From the second the movie began, I could not shake the sensation that it was extra of an arrogance venture than a real try at storytelling. The plot felt prefer it was cobbled collectively simply to provide Shyamalan’s daughter, Saleka Shyamalan, an opportunity to shine on the massive display.
She performs the pop star character within the film, Girl Raven, which I didn’t count on would have such a major position within the story.
Now, let’s speak concerning the so-called twist—or lack thereof. Should you’re anticipating the everyday Shyamalan twist that turns the whole film on its head, you are in for a letdown.
The massive twist is that Saleka Shyamalan had a a lot greater half within the story than I believed she would. However, it’d simply be that the massive reveal right here is that there isn’t one. Or maybe the twist is that Shyamalan determined to forgo his signature transfer altogether.
As a substitute, we get Josh Hartnett enjoying a loopy serial killer who leans into his being an excessively foolish dad with dangerous dad jokes. No surprising revelation, no mind-bending plot turns—only a easy story.
The story itself is painfully uninteresting, and the script doesn’t do a lot to raise it. There have been moments the place I discovered myself laughing, however not in the best way you need to chuckle throughout a thriller. The dialogue was clunky, the pacing was off, and the entire thing simply fell flat.
I do need to give credit score the place it is due as Josh Hartnett actually tried to make it work. He put within the effort and did his finest to encapsulate the character Shyamalan created for him. Hartnett’s portrayal of “The Butcher,” the daddy who took his daughter to the live performance solely to disclose himself as a maniacal serial killer, had moments of potential. However even his dedication couldn’t save the film from itself.
In the long run, Entice is definitely one of many worst movies I’ve seen this 12 months. I walked into the theater with a sliver of hope that Shyamalan would shock me once more, that possibly this is able to be a kind of motion pictures the place he pulls the rug out from underneath us in the easiest way attainable.
However that didn’t occur. As a substitute, I used to be left with a movie that didn’t work on any degree, from the uninspired plot to the lackluster performances.
Should you’re a die-hard Shyamalan fan, you may nonetheless discover one thing to understand right here. However for me, Entice was a misstep, a movie that attempted to be intelligent and thrilling however ended up being neither.
