Prior to a film adaptation, author, A.M. Shine published a book titled, “The Watchers.” It’s about an American immigrant living in Ireland named, Mina. She’s sent by her manager to deliver a parrot to a zoo. As she travels to her destination, her car breaks down. Trapped in the middle of a forest, something sinister lurks near her. Three people escort Mina to a nearby bunker. The survivors inform Mina it’s not safe to go at night when the creatures are present. It’s only safe during the day. Mina and the survivors must find a way to escape.
M. Night Shyamalan’s daughter, Ishana follows her father’s footsteps as a filmmaker adapting The Watchers as her directorial debut. Dakota Fanning (one of my Top 5 favorite actresses) signed on to carry the film. M. Night produces it under his production company, Blinding Edge. The Watchers is out right now. It earned negative reviews from critics and movie goers alike. M. Night’s next film, “Trap” will be released on August 2, 2024. A week after “Deadpool and Wolverine.”
Dakota Fanning will appear in a mini-series titled, “The Perfect Couple” with Nicole Kidman & Liev Schreiber. It’ll stream this year on Netflix. Dakota and her sister, Elle have a production company, Lewellen Pictures. Their first project’s a documentary mini-series called, “Mastermind: To Think Like a Killer.” I’m open to see their upcoming projects.
This review contains SPOILERS. If you’re interested in seeing it, read at your own risk.
Light & Dark Aspects
Light: Dakota Fanning did a solid job for her performance.
Cinematography was shot carefully.
Pacing felt stable for an hour and forty-two-minute film.
Dark: Ishana Night Shyamalan didn’t do a good job directing her first film.
M. Night Shyamalan produced the film. He didn’t double check his daughter’s script for feedback.
A random scene with Mina posing as a random person talking to a guy at the bar, has zero connection to the plot whatsoever.
Mina’s supposed to be a horrible person who regrets a tragic mistake. She inadvertently causes her mother to die from a car accident. Besides that, Mina doesn’t do anything bad. It feels backwards. She’s already a good person from the beginning. I don’t see her as an anti-hero like Yusuke Urameshi (my favorite Shonen Jump protagonist) off of “YuYu Hakusho” who trash talks his opponents, gets into fights, lifts his girlfriend’s skirt and doesn’t play well with others. If you’re gonna make an anti-hero from the start, you have to give the protagonist performing bad deeds before the journey begins.
Turns out the titular creatures are fairies. They don’t look like the kind of fairies you see on TV like Cosmo & Wanda from “The Fairly OddParents.” They look like cheap knockoffs of Slender Man, White Walkers from “Game of Thrones” and the Demogorgon from “Stranger Things.” YEESH! Botan from YuYu Hakusho is much scarier. Why? Because she’s the Grim Reaper lacking a black robe and not a skeleton. She’s a nice girl who flies with an oar for a broomstick, has a cheery personality and has the power to heal.
It’s revealed Madeline is a clone of a professor who documented the creatures and died underneath the bunker prior to Mina’s arrival. She’s a half-human, half-fairy. Why didn’t Madeline study and observe other humans? Mina doesn’t serve as purpose as a copy. There’s plenty of humans around the globe.
Nostalgia Critic mentioned on his review of “After Earth” most of M. Night’s dialogue lacks an apostrophe. The Watchers retains his writing style which is passed on by his daughter. Speaking of After Earth, M. Night’s failed attempt to pass the torch to his kid is blatant nepotism all over again. Why? Will Smith failed to make his son, Jaden an action hero. The latter’s performance was pretty bad.
I didn’t find the film scary. It lacks a legit Scare Factor.
The Final Verdict: D-
The Watchers is one of the dumbest movies I’ve seen this year since “Madame Web.” Skip the former, save your money on “Kinds of Kindness” or “Horizon: An American Saga” – Chapters 1-2. If I were you, binge-watch Chainsaw Man’s first season on Hulu or Crunchyroll. I also highly recommend it along with all four seasons of YuYu Hakusho. I think Trap’s gonna suck. I find being trapped inside a dome featuring a pop singer, preposterous. I hope Dakota Fanning’s upcoming horror film, “Vicious” doesn’t suck. At least her production company has a few projects on the way.
Nickthemoviecritic.com 