M Night Shyamalan's comeback has been official since opening weekend of his latest mindbender "Split." The fact that it has held the top spot at the box-office for the past 3 weekends is really astonishing. It has practically made $100 million in those three weeks and will likely increase that tally to 150+ million in the coming weeks. An all out smash for Blumhouse and Universal. "Split" has a budget of $9 million.
I though it was a silly, but well-orchestrated film that benefited from James McAvoy's incredible split personallity performance. An insider for The Wrap had this to say about the performance: “He’s captivating and magnetic and you can’t take your eyes off him. I absolutely feel without equivocation it’s an Oscar-worthy performance.” Of course, like all January releases, this performance will likely be forgotten as the calendar year goes along. The script is clunky, but is raised by the artistry of Shyamalan's camera and, again, the performances.
"The Twist." I have to mention the reveal at the end, you should stop reading this instant if you haven't seen the film ...
Bruce Willis' superhero from "Unbreakable" shows up to reveal what will likely be a melding of both films for a future sequel. I have been an avid admirer of Shyamalan's "Unbreakable," which I believe is his best film. There have always been rumors of a sequel happening and I always looked forward to that, but I don't know if I want it to go in the direction the film seems to be hinting it is going. One reason why "Unbreakable" was so good was that it deconstructed the superhero genre to its core and didn't reveal itself as being a superhero movie until its very last frame. This next movie would likely go full on creature vs superhero .... unless Shyamalan will,again. surprise us and give us something more subtle. With all that being said, I do love the fact that people that have never seen "Unbreakable" are now going to discover it. All thanks to "Split."