M. Night Shyamalan is one of the most interesting directors of all time. A man with a filmography that is full of many hits and misses but every one of his films has some captivating idea. For every hit such as The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, and Split, we have hard misses such as Old, The Happening, and After Earth. Where does his new film Trap land? Honestly somewhere in the middle.
The plot revolves around Cooper and his daughter Riley who partake in a concert together. They are seeing the famous Lady Raven perform live. Cooper soon discovers that the entire concert is a trap for him. Cooper is a serial killer and now he has to find out how to escape the venue.
Trap is described as a thriller and a concert movie. This isn’t a bad idea at all but unfortunately, Trap lacks focus when trying to combine both.
What Works?
The first half of Trap is actually pretty entertaining. The acting from most of the characters is off but that is kinda to be expected in a Shyamalan movie. Something about certain dialogue doesn’t feel authentic. A lot of the time you find yourself shaking your head and wondering “Who in real life talks like this?” But oddly, the awkwardness adds to the fun.
Josh Hartnett is the best thing hands down about this movie. He is so damn charming and likable that even though you know he isn’t a good guy, you can’t help but almost root for him and want to see him escape this place. He can pull off looking trustworthy moment and be damn right chilling in the next. The awkward dialogue actually helps with his character since he is playing a sociopath who is trying to pass as a normal guy. Oh yeah, he also is a really good father.
Watching Cooper navigate through the concert venue, walking past police, and hiding from being caught is engaging and fun. We get to see him try to keep his composure in front of his daughter, while inside he is panicking for sure. Unfortunately, after the first half, the movie goes way downhill.
What Doesn’t Work?
Musician Saleka plays Lady Raven in this movie. In reality, she is the daughter of director M. Night Shyamalan. Knowing this information, this movie feels less of a thriller and more of a reason to promote her music career. There are many moments of full music performances. The songs are good and Seleka is a great singer but it all takes the audience away from the plot. We get some interesting scenes and then it will cut to two minutes of a performance. Lady Raven at one point almost becomes more of a main character out of nowhere. Her character isn’t fascinating.
It is a beautiful thing that Shyamalan loves his daughter but it doesn’t come off natural for a movie. In fact, it feels a little manipulative as her character isn’t shown much in the trailer. One could argue that the trailer doesn’t want to show the whole movie. I could respect that but it feels more of a trick or perhaps that was the trap itself.
The second half of this movie sadly goes completely off the rails. The fun and engaging first half is replaced with random twists and turns, poor decision-making, and characters becoming more and more dumb. I found myself wondering what was going to happen next but not in a fun good way, but more of a “why is this even happening?”
It is insanely messy, long, and illogical. I know this is a movie and movies don’t always have to be logical. The problem is we are in a world that is presented to us as grounded. There are too many things in the second half of this movie that are way too convenient and silly, that the movie doesn’t feel grounded anymore. It starts to feel like a cartoon. This also hurts the suspense in the movie. For a thriller, there really isn’t much suspense or scares. With all the awkward moments, song performances, and amazingly odd decision-making, it is hard to care that much to even create suspense.
Overall
I wanted to love Trap. Even though, I’m not a huge fan of every Shyamalan film. the ones that hit are great. I always appreciate the mind of Shyamalan as his concepts are always very intriguing. Unfortunately, he doesn’t always stick the landing. Trap does not stick the landing. It has a first half that is fun, inventive, and a good time. It is ruined by a sloppy second half that tries to come off as clever but only seems pretentious and unfocused. Josh Hartnett is the standout as he delivers a fun performance and it is great to see him in movies again. Trap isn’t bad, it’s just disappointing. There is a very entertaining, tense, creative film inside of the one we got somewhere, but unfortunately, it remains trapped.
