Split (2017): Blu-ray Review
The Movie:
Kevin Crumb’s (James McAvoy) fractured mind has revealed 23 personalities, but one remains dangerously submerged, set to materialize and dominate the others. Kevin reaches a war for dominance among all those that rage within him, threatening his stability and impacting the survival of everyone around him.
Pretty much every M. Night Shyamalan film that has come out after Unbreakable I’ve had the high hopes that it was going to be the next hit and pretty much every time I’ve been disappointed. Even then it still didn’t keep me from hoping for the best so going in to this film I had a slight bit of hesitance. It was eased pretty quickly though because from the start of this film it had a feel of something that I’ve never seen from the director before and it got me pumped. All I kept asking myself throughout was “Is this going to be the one?”. The film has everything going for it. From mystery, suspense and a sense of horror, this movie kept me engaged and on the edge of my seat in anticipation of what was going to play out. With the exception of the second half of the film the scenario is fairly realistic and that’s what made it very scary initially. From there it goes to an insane place where only Shyamalan could think about taking it and it works so well. McAvoy blew my mind with his portrayal of this character. The way that he was able to snap in and out of characters (even down to mannerisms) at a drop of a hat was incredibly impressive. This film proves that the director has made a fantastic comeback to the genre where he made a name for himself and I honestly couldn’t be happier. There’s even the usual “twist” that you would expect except this twist was one that no one could’ve anticipated and definitely paid off. If you’re like me and have been waiting for a great Shyamalan film again then you’re going to want to pick this up as soon as possible!! 9/10
Special Features:
Alternate Ending & Deleted Scenes – A pretty good amount of scenes including an interesting alternate ending.
The Making of Split – A nice feature that shows Shyamalan talking about the film, his growth as a director, his influences and much more.
The Many Faces of James McAvoy – This feature focuses on all the characters McAvoy portrays and the challenges in doing that.
The Filmmaker’s Eye: M. Night Shyamalan – This look at the director’s work and his writing process.
