Knock at the Cabin (2023)

[Mozenrath]

I didn't see a thread about this, hopefully this isn't a duplicate.

I saw this tonight. M. Night Shymalan's definitely got a reputation, but he's also done a lot to redeem himself in recent years, both critically and financially with his films. This felt like one in the "good" column.

There was still some on-the-nose dialogue, but the acting was good enough to make that work. Rupert Grint was a fun surprise, as I had not seen any trailers, only really knowing that Dave Bautista was in it.

Dave, naturally, delivered. I know that some of the bloom was off of Dwayne's rose already with Black Adam's misfire, but I feel Bautista probably pretty comfortably has the lead on best wrestler-turned-actor right now. I'd think after Peacemaker that I'd call Cena more impressive, too, if only since Dwayne rarely seems to choose challenging roles for himself and thus hasn't demonstrated a ton of range yet. Bautista, though, seems to be making a conscious effort to vary up his portfolio, and it has been paying off for him.

The child actress in it did a fantastic job. She honestly probably shows more subtlety than most of the adults, though some of that is probably just by virtue of so much of her performance being physical, rather than having to delivery a ton of dialogue.

[zrowsdower]

Was really hoping the twist would have been Leonard was actually Harry Potter, but no, it was still a pretty okay movie no less.

[Mozenrath]

Feb 10, 2023 23:21:00 GMT -5 zrowsdower said:

Was really hoping the twist would have been Leonard was actually Harry Potter, but no, it was still a pretty okay movie no less.

I was thinking that it has none of M. Night's memed "twists", but then thinking about it, there is technically a twist, albeit not an egregious one.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}{SPOILER: CLICK TO SHOW}Rupert Grint's character's actual name, and that he had previously known the victims.

It's technically a twist, but it doesn't fit the ass-pull nature of a lot of M. Night's more infamous twists, so I didn't really think about it until later.

[EvenBaldobombHasAJob]

I'm going to watch it at some point. the book it's based on is fantastic.

[ace]

I thought the movie worked…and that Shyamalan should be FURIOUS with the marketing department. The second trailer goes out of its way to answer the question the entire second act is built of asking. It was pure madness.

But Big Dave was freaking wonderful in this. The entire premise rests on him delivering it in a way where you fully believe that he believes what he’s saying…and doesn’t want to be here doing this…but that he has no choice. Right from the opening scene he has to do all the heavy lifting and he’s the best part of the movie. The two dads and the kid are also great. They manage to build characters that you care about in very little time. Which is not easy

[Dave at the Movies]

I mostly liked it.

Here is my review. 🙂👍

[Mozenrath]

I wanted to wait a bit to see how the box office and reviews were going. Seems the movie's probably doing alright (It's doubled its budget, so it's probably going to be financially successful, and it has a Rotten Tomatoes score in the 60s, last I checked, so modestly well reviewed), and that's just making me think of how odd it is that M. Night has managed to have a resurgence in recent years.

He's only had a handful of movies in his career actually be failures, but Last Airbender and After Earth were enormous career failures even while making money, since both clearly failed to be what was hoped from them. That could have destroyed most careers, but eventually, "The Visit" and "Split" turned it around for him. I still do not really know if I'd call him a good director, but he definitely has proven he's not a fluke. Honestly, impressive comeback.

[Mighty Attack Tribble]

Feb 16, 2023 3:50:09 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

He's only had a handful of movies in his career actually be failures, but Last Airbender and After Earth were enormous career failures even while making money, since both clearly failed to be what was hoped from them. That could have destroyed most careers, but eventually, "The Visit" and "Split" turned it around for him. I still do not really know if I'd call him a good director, but he definitely has proven he's not a fluke. Honestly, impressive comeback.

The thing about Shyamalan is his movies make money. Lady in the Water and After Earth are the only movies he's made since his 1998 to actually lose money. Everything else has turned a profit, and the fact that he's really found a niche in the last ten years making movies for $20 million and under means the profit margins are that much higher. Studios are desperate for directors with track records as consistent as his.

[Mozenrath]

Feb 16, 2023 5:09:44 GMT -5 Mighty Attack Tribble said:

Feb 16, 2023 3:50:09 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

He's only had a handful of movies in his career actually be failures, but Last Airbender and After Earth were enormous career failures even while making money, since both clearly failed to be what was hoped from them. That could have destroyed most careers, but eventually, "The Visit" and "Split" turned it around for him. I still do not really know if I'd call him a good director, but he definitely has proven he's not a fluke. Honestly, impressive comeback.

The thing about Shyamalan is his movies make money. Lady in the Water and After Earth are the only movies he's made since his 1998 to actually lose money. Everything else has turned a profit, and the fact that he's really found a niche in the last ten years making movies for $20 million and under means the profit margins are that much higher. Studios are desperate for directors with track records as consistent as his.

This is true, yeah.

I doubt he's going to be handed high budget stuff again anytime soon, but that's not where he excels, anyway.