Trap

To start this off, I have a love/hate relationship with M. Night Shyamalan. I love to hate his movies, but hate to love them as well. If that's confusing, then welcome to the confusing mess that is Trap! A movie unsure of its tone until it decides to kick off into the most insane of plots towards the final half. While I say this jokingly, I unironically enjoyed the second half to bits. Let's make like Jigsaw and get into Trap!

PLOT: A mess until Act 3.

This is the anti-Marvel plot, in that it is a mess of storytelling until Act 3. It's dull, monotonous, and stuck-up in its own pride that it fails to properly catch any proper emotion or tether to the characters. It's a tedious plot about a dude trying to hide in a public place with no challenges because he's just too smart to get caught. It's not until the third act where everything starts to unravel and it becomes far more interesting and he's actually at risk. This is also where the acting of Josh Hartnett begins to compliment this insane story as he loses all composure and becomes unhinged. Yes, it's contrived up until then, but watching this with any other mentality than "Wait til it gets good" is the wrong way to look at any M. Night Shyamalan movie.

CHARACTERS: Intriguing.

Most of them talk in the usual M. Night Shyamalan, but it actually really helps sell the serial killer bit. With so many friendly faces, it's no wonder the killer got so many people. It also helps really sell the social awkwardness of a potential psychopath. That being said, this is more engaging character work than I've seen from his recent movies in years, so I'll take what I can get. Josh Hartnett is really believable and most of the side characters mostly act like real people except a bit more friendly, so it's honestly kinda insane for me to say, but I respect his character work here. Good stuff.

SHOTS: Extreme close-up, WOAHHHHH!

I swear, this dude loves his face-shots, just shove any actor into the camera lenses to shoot all his movies. I at least appreciate most of the actors aren't dead-faced or fish-faced like in his other movies, but it just feels stale and repetitive and by no means helps to elevate any insane story beats here. However, some character-focused shots do work, enhancing the anxiety of the later story beats. Nothing outstanding, but some nice little bits.

SOUND: Ehhh?

Music is okay. For a concert-set movie, most of the songs just sounded like Billie Eilish knock-offs and never really tied into any plot points, so it felt like a jukebox musical except with no interesting elements. It's hard to really state any real issues, it's just kinda weak. Sound design is okay, with some really nice crunchy sounds to make scenes in the later half engaging and terrifying.

WRITING: Not great until the end.

It's the standard M. Night Shyamalan "monologue until you die" writing. Overwritten dialogue with wide-eyed actors delivering it emotionlessly, which really does him no favors. If actors were allowed to be more like theater performers, making each monologue their own, it would actually help his films. Instead, each one is delivered in flat shots facing a close-up camera that really just does him no favors. That being said, I enjoy Hartnett's monologue at the end, as it's a great build-up of suspense and helps us feel for the murderer at the last moment. The ending really just does save this film.

LITTLE THINGS: What a... twist?

No real twist here. I'd argue the serial killer bit, but it's marketed. Additionally, there's no plot twists or hidden secrets. The real plot twist is M. Night Shyamalan making this movie to promote his daughter's singing career. Yep, if you watched this movie, you're supporting his daughter's various talents. Congratulations, geniuses, you sold out. I am at least glad it's not a tweest.

VERDICT: A bad movie saved by good second and third act.

M. Night Shyamalan finally made a movie where the twist is that it actually gets good. It doesn't end up terrible. But, it's not perfect or really good. It's just meh. The ending is pretty solid, the actors are good, and the writing can be okay. But, I am so tired of the fish lense and staring at actors mugging the camera as if it's a coffee date and they're trying to rizz me up, as the kids say. This movie has me saying Gen Alpha memes. Congratulations, M. Night Shyamalan. I have stooped far lower than anyone else would be willing to stoop. You get a 5/10, see me after class.

SCORE: 5/10, yippee no twist ending Btw Harold and the Purple Crayon review is up! Next review is a actual scary movie. What a tweest!