M. Night Shyamalan's work is always a juggling act between sentimentality, mystery and credibility. I loved The Sixth Sense, enjoyed Unbreakable, and hung in there for most of The Village. LADY IN THE WATER is his most recent and it makes you wonder whether he is playing some kind of contemptuous joke on his fans. What possible explanation could there be for this poorly conceived, sloppily written, lazy exercise in childlike mysticism?
It seems almost impossible that a director with this much imagination could drop the ball so badly. One wonders - did he know it was this bad? Or did he think it was good? Did he try to make it good but give up because he had a shoot date looming? When did he realize it was no good - during production or post production? Or does he still think it's a good film? I find all these questions much more interesting than the film itself.
One word for you. "Narf". He should have stopped right there.