Rating: 
Summary: "Signs" Struggles to Find Itself
Review: If you are looking for a film about crop circles or just some good sci-fi, you will be disappointed with "Signs." Crop circles, which most of us in the real world believe to be hoaxes, don't play much of a role in this film. They only seem to be used to attract you to the theater. Once you're there, M. Night Shyamalan drags things out for the first 75 minutes and doesn't develop the theme until the last half hour. Even the extraterrestrials seem to play bit parts. On the other hand, Mel Gibson, as Father Graham Hess, had some good emotional scenes as this film boils down to one man's struggle to find his faith. Father Hess's denomination is blurred, however, making an already unbelievable film into a meaningless one as well. I laughed through many parts of "Signs," not because the characters were all that humorous but because most of the film is just that ridiculous.
Rating: 
Summary: Been a Long Time
Review: I must say, first, that I loved this movie not only for the acting, but for the fact that it forced me to open up my imagination. The suspense of this movie comes not from millions of dollars of special effects, but simply from Mr. Shyamalan's talent for tapping into one's imagination to bring them to the edge of their seat. It has been a long time since I found myself peaking out of the slits between my fingers while watching a film. However, this film would not be a pleasant experience for anybody who has forgotten what open minded means or for those with no creative imagination.
Rating: 
Summary: Hmmm If you want Supsense this is the movie for you
Review: However if you require a plot that holds up to the Suspense.... keep your money in your pocket on this one. I saw this movie this weekend at a Matinee ...and it started just like all of his other movies... Interesting beginning, slow moving revealations, a cameo by the Director so on and so forth (although his role in this movie is much more involved). I was left "wanting", "waiting" for more......... I agree with several other reviewers there are some very funny moments in this and it truly inspirational for someone that may ask the question to themselves as to where is your FAITH? I could have seen this movie with less acclaimed actors in it and it would have done just about the same. Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix hmmmm I really enjoy their acting but I feel as if there wasn't much for them to do with this script. I won't give spoilers but they give so much away in this movie and the fact that they chose to stay in the house and fight it out made ABSOLUTELY no sense to me. The ending was anticlimatic as well so I really hope his next movies carries through with the build up that he starts with because my goodness they seem to promise SO MUCH more at the beginning and then just gets deflated along the way. You can either wait for this one to come out as a rental and save yourself the money or see it as a matinee. In my honest opinion.
Rating: 
Summary: A fine, beautiful movie.
Review: This is a beautiful, tightly scripted movie. Mel Gibson give the most sensitive and rounded performance of his career. The bad reviews that have been given here show a lack of understanding and maturity on the part of the reviewers. Yes, this movie is NOT about aliens, it is NOT about crop circles, it is NOT a science fiction or horror flick. These elements of the film were only vehicles for the themes of family, strength in trial, the loss and regaining of faith. There are no holes in this film-- as in Shyamalan's other films, everything falls together at the end -- everything. I found the ending perfectly satisfying -- the tensions and problems of the plot were resolved, and Shyamalan didn't even have to resort to hundreds of planes attacking giant saucers to get his points across. If you like horror or SF flicks, fine, but don't run down this movie because it isn't one.
Rating:
Summary: Not Your Typical Alien Film...
Review: This movie is not a big budget alien invasion thriller that some may have made it out to be. I will admit that the marketing of this movie did make it seem like the audience would see Sci-Fi thriller. It is a thriller and there are aliens; however, the aliens are used more like plot devices than the plot itself. The real story is about a man dealing with the loss of his wife, and the effects that it has had on his family. Mel Gibson?s character is remarkably acted and very believable. Gibson plays a Priest who has fallen away from his faith because of the unbelievable circumstances in which his wife perished (you must see the movie to fully understand the circumstances of her death). He and his children and his brother (who looks like he is actually related to Gibson; excellent casting) live on a small Pennsylvania farm. The movie starts out with the discovery of a crop circle in thier field. At first the circle is dismissed as a fabrication. However, as more and more crop circles appear around the world it becomes eerily apparent that this is more than a simple hoax. This is where the Sci-fi element comes into play. The side-story is one of an alien invasion, however, it is told exclusively from the point of view of this small and troubled Pennsylvanian family. Most of the Alien invasion is conveyed by way of the television set that the Family owns. This may seem silly, but one of the film?s most shocking scenes comes when Gibson?s brother is watching a news report clip that features one of the alien bad guys (by far my favorite scene, very scary). Some people may rebuke Shyamalan for taking this somewhat simplistic approach to a Sci-Fi thriller, however, I found that it gave the film a much more real world feel. Overall, telling the story from the Family's point of view made the Alien Invasion element much more spooky, overwhelming, and realistic. The movie goes on and tells the story of a troubled family that must come together in a time of fear and uncertainty. The movie ends with one of Shyamalan?s trade mark twist endings. You will learn that the movie?s title ?Signs? has an entirely different meaning other than crop circles. Oh, and did I mention that this movies is rather humorous. Its humor wouldn?t work in say... ?The Sixth Sense?, but here it enhances the mood of the film ( it would have been too drab without it).
Rating:
Summary: FIELD OF SCREAMS or
Review: not quite home alone ........ OR whether you build it or not - they WILL come........ A GREAT, nasty - LITTLE [?] "B" movie by M. Night Shyamalan! BRAVO! This one suitable counterpoints "Independence Day" and "E.T." - and very reminicent of a Twilight Zone episode - this one does chill! A superb thow-back to the '50ties. Mel Gibson is quite, quite superb as the 'questioning' cleric - a 'nom-worth' performance - this artist NEVER fails to surprise and entertain AND move - great range - AND the same goes to the younger and equally stellar JOAQUIN PHOENIX! What an artist! From 'Gladiator'; "To Die For"; "Quills" and now this? A talent to be cherished ..... Great things will come. OK! So, there's a a lot of gushing about the leads ....CHERRY JONES is equally superior .... and the kids - naturally! See this and enjoy and contemplate ..... this very ecomonic director is well-worth watching. [Counterpoint with "Communion" for extra-thrills!] Cannot wait to see what he will do two or three decades from now .......
Rating:
Summary: Signs
Review: Shyamalan peices together this chilling thriller of Father Graham Hess (Mel Gibson) whose wife died close to a year ago. Graham Hess had lost his faith in god so he decided to leave the church. His Brother Merril (Joaquin Pheonix) comes to comfort his brothers, neices and nephews loss. They awake to the sound of Bo Hess screaming in the corn feild. It then becomes aware that a crop circle has been made. Was it done by man or something larger? Shyamalan gives you suspense in just the right places and when he does, it's suspenseful. The cinematography was great This is a movie I will probably buy.
Rating:
Summary: Silly And Somewhat Preachy But An Okay Film.
Review: This film wasn't the Sixth Sense and please don't expect it to be but for a movie I paid money to see, I expected a little more than an overwrought sermon about how events that seem related happen for a greater reason. I personally don't believe in that tripe, but if you do that's fine. I would've liked to have seen an actual alien invasion take place as the movie towards the end was driving towards but we ended following along with how the characters reacted to the attempted invasion. The movie was in a way not about aliens. It was about a priest losing his faith and regaining thanks to some wierd loner running into his wife and these big green naked aliens who for some strange reasons what humans as a food supply. But the overall message is to not lose faith but if you didn't get that message when the movie first started then you might just clinically brain dead, I mean it's that obvious. Here's a thought...Since when do people go to the movies to be preached to by some big shot director who has millions of dollars, who doesn't have a care in the world, about faith? This guy and I can't spell his name, but this director wants to mystify people with his films, when this film comes off as an insult to human intelligence. This movie is alright but you may want to wait for it to hit the video store first before going to the movies to see it.
Rating:
Summary: Great movie.. hits it's marks
Review: So I get on here to look at how people have reviewed this movie. All the reviews I see just from the first click to the page were 2 stars?!? People trying to compare this to The Sixth Sense? What? This movie hit all it's marks in getting you scared when you're supposed to be, even throws in a little chuckle moment, but in no way did I feel this to be a B-movie. M. Night has pretty much made up for his short comings in Unbreakable. Which if anything, Unbreakable should have been the Sixth Sense comparison. It was a soft movie and didn't give a very intense conclusion. Signs on the other hand did very well in giving a sense of fear and making you ask the question throughout the movie "Is this just some pranks, or is it real?" Mel Gibson did a nice job playing a naive ex-clergyman. Just have to chuckle at the townspeople still seeing him as a man of the cloth when he prefers not to do anything related. Swearing? Oops! Listening to a confession of an upset girl, but yet tells his family, "I just want you to stay away from her." A bit of logistics that probably flew by, but could be explained. Then there's this back story that you get introduced to about what happened to his wife that made him loose faith in being a clergyman. A clansman of the Culkin clan,little brother to Macaulay who plays his son with asthesma, daughter who drinks a sip of water from a glass, then leaves the glass someplace to get another drink of water, only to leave the glass where others are. Joaquin Phoenix plays the brother, who at times is comic relief himself, has his own past to deal with. In all, the movie played out well, I think M. Night did it again in hitting all the marks of making a movie entertaining, scary, fun, silly, and moving. There's only going to be one Sixth Sense. Signs is the next one in line that there can't be anything as powerful as it brings to the audience. There's no doubt about it, this movie rocks. I saw it at the first showing, 11:30am. It can still be daylight to get the bageezers scared out of you!
Rating:
Summary: guh.
Review: where did shyamalan go wrong? let's review. sixth sense, smash hit due to both the intriguing plottwist and the breathtaking visual imagery. the dialogue was concise, and the "usual suspects" like approach, nearly rendering the entire film null, was incredible. then we had "unbreakable", which was similarily beautiful, but slightly .. corny, due to a plot that lacked in strength and conviction. then came "signs". now i saw this and from the opening credits immediately assumed it to be a throwback to old B movies. the music was reminscient of Bernard Herrman, from "psycho" fame. it only got worse. with genuine moments of terror, expertly shot and rendered (as usual), such as moments in the cornfield, and the amazing atmospheric tension, this movie HAD to have been high irony. (the reasons for said classification i won't say because it will spoil the ending.) i classify this as a good comedy, rather than a bad horror movie. it must be some sort of parody, because i don't think shyamalan would be so.. i don't know. watch it yourself, and decide if that last five seconds should have been done away with, or if the last fifteen minutes wasn't a laugh-a-minute scene!...
| 
