Split (2017) Review

Split (2016) – Rated PG-13 – Reviewed January 25, 2017 – IMDb

For some reason I can’t NOT see an M. Night Shyamalan movie. I don’t know why but I’ve accepted that about myself. But I’ll be the first to admit that a lot of his previous movies were… well… terrible? Here is a much abridged summary of my thoughts on some of the previous movies he directed.

The Sixth Sense – Holy shit, he was dead the whole time!?!?!?

Unbreakable – Other than the constant whispering, like the movie was being filmed at a golf tournament, pretty cool.

Signs – We defeat a race advanced enough to cross interstellar space with water pistols?!?! Really!?! And if they have issues with water why come to a planet that is 75% covered with it?

The Village – Ummm, is sending a blind person the best idea?

Lady in the Water – I liked it but wouldn’t you know if butterflies were attracted to you all the time?

The Happening – Ummmm, yeah. It happened.

The Last Airbender – Still paying for talking my friend Jon into seeing this with me.

After Earth – Zzzzzzzz

The Visit – Who knew old people could be so creepy?

Which bring us to Split.

No annoying whispering, great acting and has a neat little twist at the end that I wasn’t expecting. James McAvoy was really creepy as the main villain. He plays the different personalities with a good sense of control. He doesn’t go over the top to make them different, they just are. A scene that I liked is when you see him change from one personality to another in a single shot. His face and body language change and you know which personality you are looking at before he even speaks. A little freaky if you ask me.

Definitely more thriller than horror. What makes this work is that they focused on the characters rather than the plot gimmick. Worth seeing.