Romano Reviews: Split

Is M. Night Shyamalan back? It is no secret that he has been floundering since the mid 2000s to make a quality film that lives up to the standard he set with the Sixth Sense and Unbreakable. With critical flops like After Earth, the Last Airbender, and the Happening, Shyamalan’s reputation has been dragged through the mud. Perhaps it’s for good reasons, perhaps it’s because people have such high standards for him. Its most likely a combination of both. Split is a movie based in Philadelphia, that deals with a man, who has multiple personalities and abducted three teenage girls. Boasting a 75% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Split shows potential to be the return of M. Night Shyamalan to the movie making elite. The movie is overall very good, but is not devoid of problems. So, here is my review of Split. (Spoilers)

All of my reviews follow a similar format. I will present three things I liked about the movie, three things that were total garbage, and then give it a completely irrelevant, arbitrary, and ambiguous rating. So let's start.

The Good

1. James McAvoy is great.

I have to admit; I am a bandwagon McAvoy fan. I really like him in all of the X-men movies, but I have never seen him in anything else. I really think the decision to go with McAvoy showed great casting skills. He is excellent at expression and using tiny mannerisms to build his character. He is the perfect person to have playing many different characters in one person.

2. It doesn’t lose the audience

Movies that involve mental illness tend to be fairly boring and difficult to follow. This movie is the exception. It essentially takes place in one or two settings, but that doesn’t mean it’s boring. The characters and the dialogue really keep it going, and keep the audience invested.

3. It’s much more than a horror film

I wasn’t going to see this movie, because I thought it was going to be another low-rate horror flick, full of gore and jump scares. I was wrong. This movie was thoroughly developed and the characters were unique, unlike the usual cookie-cutter horror victims. I wouldn’t even consider it a horror film. It’s more of a psychological thriller, and it’s definitely worth the price of admission

The Total Garbage

1. The weirdos laughing in the back row

Now the character’s played by James McAvoy are extremely strange and a little humorous. A little awkward laughter has to be expected, and somewhat encouraged, but the people in this theatre were ridiculous. These people were literally cackling like hyenas. I call this the Marvel Effect, where people will take small things and blow it up to be the funniest thing in the world, essentially ruining the movie for everyone else.

2. The jump into the supernatural is a little hard to believe

To be fair the movie does build up to this point, but it’s hard to believe that McAvoy’s character can just develop super powers out of nowhere. The movie is extremely realistic throughout, and this moment is really strange. Considering there is no hint at any supernatural power, this event kind of comes out of nowhere.

3. The ending

Here’s the big spoiler. After the ending of the actual movie, M. Night Shyamalan put in a cut scene where Bruce Willis shows up in a diner, and ties the movie into 2000’s Unbreakable. Back in the day, this probably would have blown my mind, but a quality stand-alone film is a rare gem. I don’t know whether he plans to make a full blown universe out of this or if it was just a neat Easter Egg for the fans, but it really took away from the movie.

Definitive Rating: 8 out of 10 Etcetera