Regardless of what one thinks of M. Night Shyamalan’s overall body of work, you gotta give him props for one thing: He continues to demonstrate a knack for coming up with intriguing premises. When it comes to actual execution, sometimes he bites off more than he can chew, especially when trying to create final acts worthy of his ambitions. But hey, two-thirds of a good film is better than all of a bad one.
Like such recent efforts as Old and Knock at the Cabin, Trap walks a fine line between brilliant and ridiculous, but is pulled off with enough panache that it’s easier to accept the latter. As usual, it has an irresistible premise. Firefighter and family man Cooper Abbott (Josh Hartnett) takes teenage daughter Riley (Ariel Donoghue) to see her favorite artist, Lady Raven (Saleka), in concert. Cooper also happens to be a notorious serial killer known as “The Butcher,” and somewhat implausibly, the FBI knows he’s inside the venue.
Led by FBI profiler Dr. Grant (Hayley Mills), hundreds of agents and cops begin searching the arena for the man who matches witness accounts from previous murders. The first half of the film focuses on Cooper’s efforts to remain unnoticed as he tries to find a means of escape while placating his oblivious daughter. This is all presented almost entirely from Cooper’s point of view, and even though he’s the antagonist, some scenes generate genuine suspense. Watching him come up with plans of action - often on the fly - is pretty engaging, but sometimes does require suspension of disbelief.
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| Josh enjoys a Jolly Rancher. |
The film becomes less interesting - and more preposterous - outside of the arena, probably because Hartnett ends up sharing more screen time with Saleka, who also happens to be M. Night’s daughter and ends up being the main protagonist. She was fine just belting out a plethora of pop tunes during the first half, but making her character integral to the story was the narrative wrong turn I’d been waiting for Shyamalan to make. Not only is Lady Raven less engaging, her actions aren’t particularly believable and Saleka’s performance pales in comparison to Hartnett’s (though she isn’t Sofia Coppola-terrible).
Still, Trap is generally pretty enjoyable, and frequently funny, even with perceived nepotism and the hard-to-swallow plot turns during the final act (including a few which aren’t sufficiently explained). Shyamalan keeps things fast paced and does a good job building tension during numerous sequences.
EXTRA KIBBLES
FEATURETTES - Setting the Stage: A New M. Night Shyamalan features the director talking about his approach to making the film; Saleka as Lady Raven focuses on the co-star, who also wrote and performed all the songs.
DELETED SCENES
EXTENDED CONCERT SCENE
DIGITAL COPY
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