Devil is the first installment of the 3-part "The Night Chronicles" by the Thriller Mastermind (open for debate) that is M. Night Shyamalan. With flops such as The Last Airbender and The Happening, Shyamalan aims to give The Night Chronicles a good start by going back to his horror/thriller roots in the form of Devil.
The trailer did enough to make me want to watch the movie (which I eventually did) without giving much as to its idea. The story starts off pretty normal, nothing out of the ordinary just like any other movie. It only really kicked off when the 5 strangers get trapped in an elevator due to some technical problem, only to find out that the 'technical problem' is caused by a stronger force as the story unfolds. As claustrophobia and paranoia kick in, the victims start to question and doubt one another followed by a series of unexplainable events.
The movie did well to make the best of a totally restraint environment ie. the elevator. There are scenes outside the elevator as well but none as intense as those that go on inside the elevator. The plot development was good, though seemed abit rushed (the movie is only 1 hour 21 minutes) at times. The idea was great, the execution decent. As for the actors, I felt that Chris Messina (Detective Bowden) did well to juggle skepticism and a hint of belief as to the supernatural events that occurred before him. The 'good vs evil' thing can get a little bit tiring for some who have watched a little too much of these kind of movies. But I felt this movie did a little better in carrying it out. The other characters weren't developed enough in my opinion but the actors did a pretty decent job in making the audience guess who out of the 5 strangers is the odd one out.
[Spoiler]
The twist at the end was decent, a little predictable. But the lead up to the twist made me go "oh shit~~!" which was something I actually liked. Another thing I liked about this movie is also that the Devil never really showed itself, just glances and at the end in the form of one of the strangers in the elevator. I prefer it this way rather than the devil coming out and scream "Hi all!, I'm the devil!".
[Spoiler ends]
On the downside, the movie never really reaches heights it could have reached. The plot could have been more in depth and more detailed but for one reason or another it isn't. Character background were somewhat rushed. The first 15 minutes of the movie was dull to the point I thought to myself - " this movie is going to suck " -. But fortunately it regained its pace and turned out to be a pretty decent movie. In short, the movie could have done more with the concept it had but fails to do so.
All in all, this movie is -in my books- definitely worth watching. It may not be the best thriller film out there but it beats watching the other crap that is out right now in the cinemas. Did it redeem Shyamalan after the mediocre Airbender? I can't really say because I didn't sacrifice my time watching the crap that was Airbender, but I would like to think that it did.
Right now, my hopes are considerably high for what's next to come from The Night Chronicles (second film rumoured to be titled "12 Strangers").
IN A NUTSHELL
Pros: Simplistic thriller/horror, decent acting by the cast, nice concept with decent (could have been better) execution, nice atmosphere | Cons: a little too rushed, narrow storyline | Rating: 7/10
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