Shameful Human of the Week: M. Night Shyamalan

Back when The Last Airbender was released, it became cool to hate on M. Night Shyamalan. Since Shufflingdead is not above easy targets, and with Devil coming out this week, now seems like an appropriate time to hop aboard the Shyamalan hate train.

I admit it: I haven’t seen a film by Mr. Manoj Nelliyattu Shyamalan since Signs, but that’s because I listen to reviews. And man, have they been unkind to M. Night. IMdB’s ratings show a precipitous decline for the man’s films, with Sixth Sense kicking things off with an 8.2, and then sliding down to a 6.6 with The Village, and concluding at a 4.3 for The Last Airbender (these are all out of ten). The real critics have been even harsher: The Last Airbender is sitting at just 7% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Unfortunately, despite flop after flop, film-goers will be seeing more from the twist-meister in the years to come. The upcoming Devil is based on a story written by M. It’s supposed to be the first of three movies produced, but not directed, by him. And despite the horrible reviews, The Last Airbender seems to have made money, which puts Shyamalan’s hopes for two more installments into play.

I admit to liking The Sixth Sense, and I’m honestly a big fan of Unbreakable, but Shyamalan lost me with Signs. It’s a movie about water-allergic aliens invading a planet covered in water, Earth. I still don’t understand how anyone missed this.

I would like to say that the twist at the end of M. Night Shyamalan’s career was the revelation that he was a hack, but it seems his career refuses to die.