Rating: 
Summary: Were Random Words Used for the Dialogue?
Review: (Spoilers) I did not expect much from this movie; however, I did expect to take it seriously. Alas, it was not to be. The dialogue in this movie is ridiculous (Mel's baseball playing kid brother talks for at least two minutes, in a serious tone, about how he believes in miracles because in some past situation he happened to have gum in his mouth which spared him from getting vomited on by a girl he was about to kiss). I laughed (heartily) in spots that should deserve no laughter i.e. when the female cop (Caroline maybe?) informs Father Gibson that his wife is pinned against a tree in such a way that allows her to remain coherent. The storyline for this movie was entirely predictable, especially the reaffirmation of God's plan or whatever. Such a plan was about as shoddy as the script for this movie. The only payoff in this movie whatsoever is the visual representation of the aliens. Actually, any discussion of the aliens at all was pleasant compared to the slow moving, emotional family situations. Unfortunately, the aliens take a back seat to how the family copes with all the misfortune thrown their way. The end result is a laughable attempt to make people think...
Rating: 
Summary: M. Night Shyamalan's best film by far
Review: "Signs" is M. Night Shyamalan's best movie, and one of my favorite suspense films. It is also so ridiculously underrated! Many people hate it because of its religious aspects, its ending, and it wasn't what they had expected. Come on people! This film isn't about big explosions or special effects. It's about characters that you come to know and care about. That is what makes it a great movie. Great movies are about characters, NOT special effects. Anyway, what I love about this film is the humor that comes from the supporting characters, and it has a sweet and beautiful little girl in it. Abigail Breslin, as Bo Hess, is the kind of little girl you'd love to have as your own. She's so adorable and hilarious, and she pulled my heartstrings at the right moments. I hope she makes more films in the future.
Rating:
Summary: Signs of Over-rated-itis
Review: M. Night Shyamalan, the shining new writer/director of the overrated 'The Sixth Sense' and the underrated 'Unbreakable', had us going all summer long. He had marketing with crop circles and slogans like 'It's Happening'. 'Signs' grossed $60 million in its opening weekend. Up to the opener, I was looking forward to 'Signs'. It's about time Hollywood makes a movie about crop circles (because whether or not you like to believe in UFOs, these strange shapes appearing in farmers crops overnight, are supposedly being reported). That's what I thought, until I got an hour into the film.
The first forty-five minutes of the film is the best filmmaking ever made. It starts out in an abnormal morning, in which family man Graham Hess (Mel Gibson), finds crop circles in his crops. From there, the story gets kind of suspenseful, in terms of the way the direction of the film goes. The plot seemed too much like Daphne Du Maurier's original story of 'The Birds' (which Alfred Hitchcock took and changed around to make his own version)
From there, I got thrown away. The whole crop circles angle was very pointless to the ending of the film, not to give anything away to those who hasn't seen it. Picture this: you're an alien that is afraid of water, yet you are about to raid a planet that is two-thirds water.
The few compliments I do give to the film are Mel Gibson, for his choice of picking such a different project. This doesn't go along with the freedom, kicking butt 'Brave-Heart', the wholesome melo-drama 'The Man Without a Face', nor the epic saga 'Lethal Weapon'. I will also give two thumbs up to the score of the film. James Newton Howard didn't make the film too bad with the haunting music, that is compared to how John Williams approached Steven Spielberg's 'Close Encounters' and 'E.T.', the beautiful yet undeniable creepy score, moves the film along.
As for this uprising writer/director, Mr. Shyamalan is the new kid on the block who does have talent for directing a film. In his films, I saw some camera angles on both 'Unbreakable' and now, 'Signs', which I had never seen before. But as for screenwriting, he should have somebody else write out the scripts for him. He's decent on character development, needs work on dialog, and certainly is horribly in terms of plots and sub-plots.
What I hear from the rumor-mill, 'Signs' is going to be a trilogy. Whether or not good old Mel will rejoin this already gone bad series, 'Signs' could have been done much better. And adding the fear factor of crop circles does not help. Even though this wasn't a cliché in your face, blow up the world type sci-fi flick, it still runs with 'War of the Worlds' and 'Independence Day', with the misconceptions of UFOs, whether you believe or not, the truth is out there.
Rating:
Summary: Fabulous movie!
Review: This is one of my all-time favorite movies! When I saw it in the theater, it literally startled me at times so that I fell out of my chair! Also very emotionally moving, it's just a plain great flick. BUY IT IF: you like to be scared, entertained and moved all in the same 2 hours. DON'T BUY IT IF: you've already seen it more than once. It isn't of much value after you know what happens.
Rating: 
Summary: Very disapponting, funny in a way...
Review: ...This movie is somewhat funny cuz you can tell the aliens are fake and another funny thing is they said it was the best alien/movie of 2002! I'm sorry for this review but its definately not that great of a movie like everyone says. If you wanna scary movie try The Ring or better yet They cuz this movie is just plain awful. I only gave it 2 stars on the account of Mel Gibson being in the movie or else this movie...would suck even more!
Rating: 
Summary: A really creepy movie....
Review: Signs is by far one of the creepiest movies I have ever seen. It's not scary, it just leaves you breathless with shock. I guess that's why they call these movies thrillers. There's not really much you can say without giving away the plot but it's one hell of a good movie. I was disappointed with the way the movie ended - I was expecting more of an explanation to the aliens. This movie is a good buy and I recommend it to horror movie fans and people that enjoy good jumpy thrillers.
Rating:
Summary: It's hard to even LAUGH at it.
Review: I watched this movie at a friend's house, and was the only person in our group who hadn't seen it before. I'd been told it was extremely boring, but didn't realize that it would be THIS bad. It isn't scary, and has even less action than The Others. For much of the beginning of the movie, it's much more hilarious than anything else, particularly with some of the odd dialogue and ill-thought out plot (remember the scene with the cell phone in the car, anyone?). Unfortunately, Signs gets boring even to make fun of after a point. With so little going on, you just beg for ANYTHING to happen, even if it is something really dumb. Eventually, aliens decide to make some sort of large-scale appearance on Earth. Of course, nothing really happens with that. At the very end of the movie (yes, you have to wait the entire hour and a half for it), an alien enters the home of the family the movie focuses on, and for whatever reason (I can't remember why), the alien needs to be killed. Because at this point the audience has been bored to death, the end scene is mildly interesting, but only because absolutely nothing else happened for the entire movie. Even during this one "eventful" scene, the pacing remains horribly slow, and ends up getting on your nerves even more than the annoying family does. Speaking of the family - none of them ever seem to know what to do and give off the strong impression that none of them know how, or even can, make a decision of any kind. They are far from proactive in any way, and the father seems obsessed with wallowing in his misery over his wife's death. Needless to say, by the time the alien actually enters their home, you WANT the aliens to win the so-called "battle." The only scene worth watching is the one with the alien in the family's house, and even then it's value is questionable. They do kill the alien (if I recall correctly, all they do is throw water at it) and then the movie's basically over. This is the WORST movie I have ever seen, and I really really hope that nobody ever comes out with something even worse. The characters are grating on the nerves, the virtually nonexistent plot moves slower than the 90 year olds who do 10 in 50 zones on the road, and there is no real atmosphere of any kind. If you want aliens, at the very least go watch the X-Files or Mars Attacks....seriously. Signs is so bad it isn't even a joke.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Fabulous!
Review: Shyamalan did everything right with Signs. Not only does he hold true to his practice of a surprise ending, but the ride to the ending is just as much fun. If you're looking for a shoot-em-up alien movie, if all you're interested in is seeing alien guts and lots of special effects, look elsewhere. This is very much a psychological movie about fear, hope, and faith. Mel Gibson's performance is very high quality, and the rest of the cast supports well. I highly recommend this movie to anyone who's not afraid to think a little.
Rating:
Summary: Shyamalan does it again!
Review: M. Night Shyamalan's Signs is a unique and powerful sci-fi thriller. Fans of The Sixth Sense and The Others should enjoy this film though it doesn't have ghosts or a surprise ending. Signs is subtle in its creepiness and grand in emotion. The relationship between Mel Gibson's character and his children is touching, and the idea of having faith is something to take to heart. Signs is a simple yet ambitious movie that focuses more on personal relationships and drama. We don't see hoards of aliens or spacecraft, laser blasts or explosions. Instead, we see a family struggling to survive and stay strong. Though some of premise of the film is a little far-fetched, it still feels frighteningly real.
Rating:
Summary: Don't read these reviews if you haven't seen the movie
Review: I'm glad I saw this movie at the theatre without anybody revealing the plot and resolution to me beforehand, which is what many inconsiderate reviewers here have chosen to do. Do yourself a favor. See the movie without reading about it or asking other's opinions. Form your own opinion after having seen it and, if you enjoy it, simply recommend it to others without explanation. Obviously, many of the people who panned the movie expected something else. They criticized what they saw as shortcomings when the movie wasn't about the shortcomings, but about something more. Yes, I enjoyed The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable, but my favorite movie of the three is perhaps Signs. There is a character depth that had not been plumbed as deeply as in the previous two. I'll admit, the story was a only a slightly bit contrived (hence the 4.5 stars instead of 5), but suspend your disbelief and the entire story falls into place. And who says it could not have been any other way?
|
