Father-Son Act

You know why Sony made this survivalist adventure about a dad and his son, etc.? Apart from the likelihood that Will Smith and his son found it emotionally fulfilling? Because it’ll play everywhere. Every bored, compulsive, under-educated teenager or ADD-afflicted 20something in every under-developed or emerging or flush economy…they’ll all feel good about this. To me it’s nothing. To me the “jumping off a cliff and soaring like a bird” shot is tired Avatar bullshit.

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  • AHB

    Considering how much money the studios have lost in just this year, you can’t really blame them for making something safe with the world’s biggest movie star, can you?

  • Matthew Lucas

    Interesting that they’re not really playing up Shyamalan’s name. After so many duds, is he no longer a bankable name with the general public?

    • D.Z.

      After winning two Razzies, what do you think?

      • Guy Lodge

        What, because the Razzies and the general public are totally simpatico?

        • Topher0820

          No, but his name above the title hurts more than helps at this point. I was at a theater a few years back and there was a trailer for Devil. (that elevator horror movie) Everybody in the theater was pretty into it, the. “from the mind of M Night Shyamalan” comes up on the screen, and I kid you not the entire theater let out an audible groan followed by laughs all around.

          • Matthew Lucas

            Yeah I’ve had that experience too. But he’s generally been one of the few directors with a marquee name easily recognizable to the general public. Even after dud after dud. I guess people finally got wise.

            People also expect a certain type of film from him, and this doesn’t look like that kind of film. I’d imagine they’re trying not to associate this film with what people have come to expect from Shyamalan.

  • http://twitter.com/jessecrall Jesse Crall

    I really wish they pulled an Eastwood and had Will’s total lookalike kid NOT play his son.* But yeah, I was way more into Oblivion when both trailers were popping up a few weeks ago.

    *Credit to LexG for the original Scott Eastwood riffs.

  • http://twitter.com/zachheltzel Zach Heltzel

    I’m still at a loss for why Will Smith, who hasn’t been in a tentpole film in a few years, would decide to put so much trust in M. Night Shyamalan to deliver. The Last Airbender made money, sure, but yikes.

    • http://twitter.com/jessecrall Jesse Crall

      It’s odd to me as well, but just guessing:
      1). A cast involving Smith Squared probably made Will and his sabermetrically-inclined handlers drool.
      2). The title alone is more high-concept than most loglines. 3). Men in Black made over 600 mil, so his tentpole remains erect.
      4). Shyamalan probably relinquished his usual amounts of control and Stephen Gaghan’s line in the credit distilled some M. Night concerns as well.

      • Bobby Cooper

        “sabermetrically-inclined handlers”

        THAT’S WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT

        • Raising_Kaned

          Speaking of sabermetrics and Gaghan, I’m pretty fascinated by how he’ll approach Gladwell’s Blink as a movie.

          It seems borderline unfilmable to me, although so did Moneyball and Cloud Atlas (while watchable, neither of which I found particularly “great”).

          • DukeSavoy

            Yeah, don’t get the love for Moneyball. Just another baseball flick with standard “series of shots”
            - batter swinging through ball to CRACK of bat
            - ball clearing stadium wall
            - crowd ROAR
            - long shot of dude rounding bases
            - smiling teammates crush up on runner at home plate
            - batter swinging through ball/CRACK of bat
            - etc.

            Moneyball was a satori moment: I just don’t like baseball. Avoided Trouble with the Curve like it was a blind turn on a Himalayan switchback.

      • Raising_Kaned

        I’m sure Jada Pinkett really appreciates his tentpole remaining erect.

    • NephewOfAnarchy

      Isnt’s Smith’s entire career basically “made money, sure, but yikes”?

    • D.Z.

      It’s the studio’s money, not Smith’s dough. So it really makes you wonder why they’d bet on Shyamalan, when he hasn’t had a real hit since
      Signs.

      • http://twitter.com/zachheltzel Zach Heltzel

        Smith is one of the few actors left who serves as a brand name, and he essentially has carte blanche on his projects, yes?

  • Circumvrent

    You know, as much as the entirety of the Internet likes to rag on him, I just can’t hate M. Night Shyamalan. Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, and Signs are some of the best back-to-back-to-back runs ever in movies both financially and critically, and I even think there are moments of real talent in The Village (which was hampered by everything thinking it was about the twist) and Lady in the Water (which is a totally insane, totally unique movie that only he could have made and will get the due it deserves sometime down the line). He brought a class and sophistication to these bigger budget deals (and a nice dose of non-religious spirituality), and while it has been a severe case of diminishing returns, I really hope this is a great movie and a big hit for him.

    • http://twitter.com/davidlawyer3 David Lawyer

      I agree. I like night’s films as well. This movie may not do “great” given other anticipated films, but it won’t do too bad. Love him or hate him smith still draws the crowds….I do hope it does well however…

    • Eloi Wrath

      Signs is really great. Helps that he has an excellent, Hermann-esque score from James Newton Howard, but the way it slowly ramps up the tension is pretty masterful filmmaking.

      That said, The Happening was pretty unforgivable. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Rq-7zEVuwI

  • Gopaleen

    Why is nobody addressing the standout issue- what the hell are those accents supposed to be? Faux-British by way of Sidney Poitier by way of…Kentucky? A Shyamalanism if ever there was one. ‘Tis doomed.

    • D.Z.

      Yeah, that’s pretty horrible, too.

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_HJ32HAF57JDNQSEPAW6IVJRKPM Rashad

      I see nothing wrong with trying to come up with a new accent. The movie is set 1000 years in the future. It makes sense.

      • Eloi Wrath

        It also looks like one of those daft things you’d find in some wacky 1970s sci-fi. It’ll end up looking fairly ridiculous.

  • lazarus

    Really hoping this tanks, and that studios will give this kind of money to someone else instead of self-proclaimed Savior Of The World. Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij have some great genre ideas.

    • dhinicarnetta

      thsnks

    • dhinicarnetta
  • http://twitter.com/carlosybarra2 carlos ybarra

    I swear I’ve seen Shyamalan applying for a job at my Starbucks coffee shop. Even the director knows this crap is going to crash at the box office.

  • Eve

    If Shyamalan does not have a cameo or bit part, this will be an improvement over other Shyamalan films. I have a theory that the larger his part, the worse the film.

  • Eloi Wrath

    It also seems to have that low-rent forest vibe. A few flashy establishing shots of space and whatnot, and then 90% of the movie taking place on the same drab forest set.