Wednesday, July 14, 2010
"Devil" Trailer Premieres Online
The trailer for the newest M. Night Shymalan production has gone viral. I know what you’re thinking: M. Night Shymalan is still allowed to make movies after Lady in the Water, The Happening, and most recent failure The Last Airbender? Fortunately, Shymalan is only producing Devil while Drew and John Dowdle of Quarantine fame actually work behind the camera. Hard Candy and 30 Days of Night writer Brian Nelson penned the screenplay so there is some hope for the Devil yet.
The film is about a group of people stuck in an elevator, one of whom is actually the devil himself. Dun dun dun! The trailer actually isn’t as atrocious as you’d think one boasting “from the mind of M. Night Shymalan” would be. It’s tense, claustrophobic, and suspenseful. I would be lying if I said it didn’t pique my interest at the very least. However, we have to keep in mind that M. Night Shymalan is still attached here so we shouldn’t get our hopes too high. Since the original story is by him, I’d be willing to bet there’s some ridiculous plot twist that makes all the exciting stuff we’ve just seen null and void.
Having all of the action take place in an elevator is a risky move. This movie better have either a pretty short runtime or enough tension to disguise the fact that these characters are in a space the size of my walk-in closet for an hour and a half. Rigoberto Castanèda’s Blackout set the bar pretty low for elevator-based thrillers so hopefully Devil improves on the concept.
The Dowdle brothers proved to be competent enough behind the camera with their shot-by-shot remake of Quarantine. However, my real faith in this movie (miniscule as it is) relies on Brian Nelson’s writing abilities. Hard Candy was edgy and thought-provoking and 30 Days of Night presented real bloodthirsty vampires that don’t sparkle.
So what do you think of the Devil trailer? Will you be checking this out on the big screen, picking it up from 99 cent video on a slow Friday night, or bypassing it altogether?
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Hmmm...I think I'm torn on this one...
ReplyDeleteDespite the fact that he's only producing, M. Night clearly peed all over and around this trailer (i.e. marking his territory with his signature "Signs" and Shymalan-esque mysterious music, and "from the mind of M. Night Shymalan" text. I'm seriously hoping that the plot twist, like you said, won't make the entire movie all for naught (let's not forget Mark Wahlberg's ever-convincing, "It's the trees. The....trees are killing everyone."
I'm thinking this one will be a theater watch, but sometime on a Tuesday, 4 weeks after opening, when I have some time to kill.
P.S. I bet the "Devil" is Geoffrey Arend. His mug screams ambiguous villain.
Yeah, I'm torn too. I know it's bad, but I really can't get over the fact that M. Night is involved in any way, shape or form with this. At this point I think it would be a plot twist for M. Night Shymalan to NOT have a plot twist because we all expect it, and we're all always disappointed by it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your assessment. I think I'll check it out in theaters on a slow weekday night, and even that will only be if I hear some positive buzz about it.
The trailer is good, but I get the feeling that it is one of those movies where all the good parts are in the commercial. I say rental, or maybe catching it on cable late one night.
ReplyDeleteI have a question for you though about the M. Night Shymalan debacle- particularly about "The Last Airbender". Have you seen it? I wanted it to be so good because I love the cartoon, but it was really slow. Do you think there is any hope for the rest of the movies? (They are slotted for, what, two more?)
Jamie, I actually haven't seen "The Last Airbender" but I did hear that it was awful. I'm not sure how well two more "Airbender" movies will do because this one was bashed by critics and audiences alike.
ReplyDeleteAs for the "Devil" trailer, I agree. I feel like with the setting being in an elevator it really has the potential to drag.
I actually like much of Shymalan's earlier works, ie: "The Sixth Sense" through "The Village" and this trailer leaves me a little torn. I would like for it to be good and to not have a story negating twist but I guess we will just have to see. I'll probably wait for this to be out on Netflix unless it gets some awesome reviews.
ReplyDeleteJust to state a minority opinion, I own "Lady in the Water." On purpose. I don't know what it is in me that has me perceiving it so differently than most, but I think it's fantastic. I mean, Paul Giamatti curled up on the couch acting infantile to hear a story? Love it.
ReplyDelete