Watching the trailer for M Night Shyamalan’s latest movie Trap, it appears that the whole movie is given away in the trailer. To a certain extent, this is true. The basic plot of the movie is revealed. But this movie is more than just what is revealed in the trailer—a serial killer, wonderfully played by Josh Hartnett—goes with his teen daughter to watch the Lady Raven concert. Lady Raven, played by M Night’s daughter, is basically this movie’s version of Taylor Swift, although to my surprise the character plays a much bigger role than just singing and performing on stage. At the concert, the FBI stages an elaborate trap to arrest the serial killer. What really makes this movie is the strong writing that’s shown in the cat and mouse game played between Hartnett and the police and FBI at the arena as they try to hunt him down. This movie also had a good bit of humor, including some laugh out loud moments.
The movie had some downsides. Mostly they center around some plot elements that lack believability. M Night is known for his big movie twists. This movie had a small twist at the end, but definitely not one of those monumental, jaw-dropping twists. Josh Hartnett does a great job in this movie and puts out an enjoyable performance. This is a good not great movie, definitely watchable but not one of M Night’s best movies.
