Split Review (May Contain Spoilers)

I've noticed this movie has some pretty split reviews, (yes pun intended), but honestly, I liked it. Everyone is skeptical to walk into this one based on it being a film from M. Night Shyamalan (or as I call him M. Night Shlama lama) The guy who has brought us good films like “The Sixth Sense” and some really bad ones like “After Earth”, and well some more bad ones too, that has earned him a bad reputation. But I think he has made a good comeback with “Split”. “Split’s” plot is about a man named Kevin (James McAvoy) who has 23 distinct personalities. He has a mental disorder known as DID (Dissociative identity disorder) which is a real thing by the way. But the movie is about him reaching a 24^th personality, known by his other personalities as the Beast. He kidnaps three young girls from the start of the movie almost immediately. The lead Kacey (Anya Taylor-Joy) does a pretty good job of playing the outcast character with a broken background, which connects her to Kevin more than the others. I liked how they gave her a background story throughout the film, so we actually cared about her by the end. The other two not so much, they were kind of the typical dumb teens we see in movies often. But the real star of the movie is James McAvoy, I’ve liked him in past films such as the newer X-men franchise as a young Professor X, or when he played Dr. Frankenstein in “Victor Frankenstein”.  But here he is on a whole new level, he changes his personalities from an old shrewd lady known as Patricia, to a funny nine-year-old kid named Hedwig, to a creepy dude named Dennis. He makes it much more believable than I thought it would be going into this.

 For the people whining about being offended because it’s making fun of, or making mental disorder patients seem like bad people, give me a break. How many movies have made asylums and mental patient homes seem like a creepy hell? That’s like saying Michael Myers from “Halloween” or Jason Voorhees from “Friday the 13^th” were horrible films because it showed us that a mental patient and a mentally handicap man, both went on killing sprees, for a very long time at that. I don’t see how “Split” is much different, it shows us what could be, which we all know ( at least anyone with a brain) is very farfetched, especially if you watch until the end when he becomes the beast, which is completely fictional. But it’s a movie! Sheesh who are these people who go in with a pen and paper and write down every flaw of a film? I mean yeah, I write reviews, but it’s just to inform people from a level-headed person when it comes to movies, if it’s worth a few hours of your time. We live in such a critic age now that we all have a way to voice our opinions online, that it ruins movies from the get go for people. Some people literally flip through the comments section on Facebook under a movie trailer to decide if they want to see it based others opinions. Sure, I’m a bit of a hypocrite because here I am with my review but hey if you go through the trouble of setting up a blog, then your point is more valid. I also never base my movie watching decisions on others, for example “The Purge” movies that I love, some hate, and I would have missed out on seeing them in theaters if I listened to them. And my answer is yes by the way, you should go see “Split”. Just to see James McAvoy’s awesome performance is worth it. There’s also a pretty big twist at the end that you may have to google afterwards, like I did, if you don’t get it. It is worth noting this really isn’t a horror film, yes, the end gets a bit creepy, but honestly, it’s more of a psychological thriller, which usually I’d say isn’t my first pick (Let’s be honest they can be boring, oh here comes the film snobs! “You obviously don’t know good films, since all you like is explosions and killing” Yes! Sue me, but if there’s no action, comedy, or killing in a movie it probably blows, I said PROBABALY, not always, jump down off your high horse, nobody cares) Now instead of illegally downloading movies, get up go out into the world, pay your way in and go see “Split”. Also a solid 8 out of 10.