M. Night Shyamalan’s latest movie may be his wildest premise. It’s not a surprise twist because it tells you at the beginning Josh Hartnett plays The Butcher. He’s taking his daughter to a concert and the pop star (Saleka Shyamalan) is working with police to set a trap for him.
Since he’s not keeping a secret, Shyamalan just has a blast with The Butcher trying to escape and manipulating the concert to hide. It’s shot on film so you can see the grain. Most of the stadium shots look as mundane as the venues we’ve all been to, but when the concert starts, it exercises HDR stage lighting, with pockets of shadow in the audience and backstage.
As the stand-off continues into the night, neighborhood streets and vehicle interiors employ evocative darkness.
The music surrounds, too. Stadium ambiance is more subtle but it’s there. Saleka’s music also has heavy subwoofer int he beats.
Two bonus feautures running four and five minutes seem like they could have more, but they get to the point. Night and his daughter saw the concert as their Purple Rain which makes sense when you see it.
The deleted scenes include Saleka’s full acoustic piano song which is nice.