Rating: 
Summary: A paranormal thriller with a heart
Review: In "Signs," written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Mel Gibson plays Graham Hess, a minister who lives on a Pennsylvania farm with his younger brother and two children. Having suffered the loss of his wife, Graham has also lost his faith. But the appearance of mysterious circular patterns in his crops is the start of a series of paranormal events that drastically affect Graham and his family."Signs" also features Joaquin Phoenix as Graham's brother Merrill, and Rory Culkin and Abigail Breslin as Graham's kids. Cherry Jones is excellent as a kind police officer, and director Shyamalan himself has a small role. As in his huge hit "the Sixth Sense," Shyamalan avoids flashy special effects and over-the-top action in favor of old fashioned storytelling and character development. He also blends some effective (and occasionally unsettling) humor into the mix. As in "Sense," Shyamalan fills the film with details that reward the attentive viewer. It's all nicely complemented by James Newton Howard's creepy score. The performances are superb. Gibson gives a career high performance as the heartbroken (and soul-broken) minister. The rest of the cast is also great, but I was especially impressed by young Rory Culkin. I had been blown away by the talented Culkin's performance in "You Can Count on Me," and in "Signs" he continues to demonstrate his star quality. Culkin brings a potent blend of authority and vulnerability to his pivotal character. The paranormal theme ultimately complements the serious family drama. "Signs" has something serious to say about faith, suffering, and (most of all) love.
Rating: 
Summary: both thumbs down
Review: As a horror movie fan, I was greatly disappointed in SIGNS. I went in expecting a scary movie similar to 'The Others' or 'Alien', but I saw neither. What I saw was a movie that uses low-budget horror flick tricks. The alien was suppose to provide the spooks, but it hardly had any screen time. We only saw shadowy figures in the dark, heard loud banging behind closed doors and saw an alien hand or two sticking out from behind a small opening. We don't get to see the alien until the very end. It was that kind of movie. The story seemed to be mainly about Mel Gibson's character having lost his faith, then regaining it. Maybe I wouldn't have been as disappointed if the promotions weren't as misleading.
Rating: 
Summary: two words DOO DOO
Review: i enjoyed sixth sense ,a little let down with unbreakable but THIS!?It is becoming increasingly more evident that hollywood thinks of it's audience as nothing more than mindless fish.
dangle a lure and throw some chum in the water.=(spend six dollars on a script,30 million for some well known actors and a hundred million on advertising and you get the kind of product hollywood is putting out)
this movie defies logic on so many levels it becomes insulting.
a brief example without giving too much away....if we were going to take over a planet that was 80% sulferic acid; would we do it naked...one tends to think that the morning dew or the humidity would be a tad uncomfortable. i guess if we were "DESPERATE".
I can usually look past gaping flaws in logic if a movie remains entertaining,,heck i liked the MATRIX and that had huge holes in the plot.
but with the dark brooding monotone of the actors the flaws in logic the (felt like it was written on a weekend)dialogue this movie fails miserably to entertain and makes you think twice about spending $$$ on anything this part of hollywood may put out.
Rating:
Summary: one more thing
Review: On the point of "faith". Mel's character, apparently an Episcopalian priest, loses his faith in god so easily when his wife dies in a freak accident. Let's forget about the fact that, as a priest, he had to have counseled countless families as to why god does exist even though bad things happen. Let's forget the fact that he must have been a pretty shallow priest to begin with if he lost his faith so easily. The very DEFINITION of "faith" is "believing in the truth of something without having conclusive evidence". Yet Mel's character ONLY believes in god again, or in his goodness, AFTER having evidence and proof. That's not faith, people. DUH. Just one of the zillions of moronic holes in logic this movie delivers and spoon-feeds to the mind-numbed American public. I'm shocked and crushed that so many love this movie so much. It really does sadden me.
Rating: 
Summary: Classic M. Night Shyamalan movie
Review: Following in the footsteps of Hitchcock, M. Night brings a more "the Birds" like tale about a Priest(Gibson) who has lost his faith over the loss of his wife in a deadly car accident and now lives with his two children and Brother(Phoenix). They soon realize that this crop circles are showing up and are dealing with the fact alien beings are invading. Now the Rev. has to have faith again in order to save his family. Great storytelling by M. Night who always give the audiance something original in each of his movies. I love the suddle humor in it. Joaquin Phoenix is hilarious! This truly is the best movie of the summer!SEE IT!
Rating:
Summary: Signs Of The Metaphysical
Review: I just went and saw this flick this afternoon and I must say I really liked it and it works on more than one level. The storyline is well known from the trailers, promotions, and the Amazon review: a resurgence of crop circles after years of respite along with strange occurrences and sightings leave the viewer wondering just what happened and what is to come. One thing I will say is that this is not one of those Alien types of monsters jumping out of people's chests with blood all over shows. The movie relies on suspense and a sci-fi plot to keep the viewer engaged and it will most likely engage you in the first few minutes provided you are awake, at least relatively sober, and paying attention. I'm not going to go into the storyline other than to say it does jump out at you at unexpected times and from places you might not see it coming from. While it is subdued at times it keeps coming at you with no slow paced build up like you see in some films and the low key parts merely make you jump more when something happens. The movie also touches on subject matter in a way that some literature does as well and I'm reasonably certain it is no accident given some of the directors other films. You have the element of an unknown force that may or may not be threatening and the question arises do you have faith in something beyond and bigger than yourself? Do you believe in luck or is there no such thing? When you watch the movie you can follow the plot line which is a solid sci-fi story on it's own really but I would recommend that you also read between the lines. Sometimes movies can be a vehicle to express or comment on deeper social issues of the day. Keep in mind the mood of the U.S. at the time this came out and the months and years preceding it and the fact that strangers are now so ominous given the murders and kidnapping that are going on. There is also the shadowy enemy the United States faces that for the first time is expressly targeting American citizens who are innocent and average citizens just like the character portrayed by Mel Gibson and his family. There is a long tradition of "otherness" like this in American movies and the apocalyptic nature of this movie makes it pretty interesting. This movie does have apocalyptic and end time overtones for those who are interested in such matters. I'm not really a huge Mel Gibson fan although I do think he is a fine actor who has been in some fine pictures. I did really like his performance here and I think he really made the father of the family believable. Joaquin Phoenix, Rory Culkin, Abigail Breslin all create likeable characters as well and I personally especially like little Abigail she did very well. It's interesting that Amazon editorial characterizes this as a "B" movie and is so critical of it in general when it is obviously a "hit" and everyone I know who has seen it says it is a "must see" movie. I guess no one bats 1.000 and I think their review missed the point on this one (an exception they are usually reasonably good in my opinion). I would actually say that this will be worth getting on DVD because there are going to be a lot of people who did not see it in the theater who want to see it and you might just have fun having a movie party with it. It might give younger viewers some bad dreams though so I would recommend a bit of caution in that regard but depending on the kid in question it's not really that bad. Just don't forget the popcorn.
Rating: 
Summary: Good parts don't add up to a great whole
Review: I admired M. Night Shyamalan's THE SIXTH SENSE and UNBREAKABLE, but I think SIGNS is his weakest foray into Twilight Zone territory. SIGNS has some great and scary moments, mostly built on jump-out shocks or on keeping things hidden from view. But the payoff just doesn't come together very well. The religious aspects of the movie (Gibson's struggle with his faith) and the "trick" ending (which is becoming Shyamalan's signature mark) are too obvious to offer any real suspense or any real sense of surprise and wonder that one got with his previous two movies. I also disagreed with the director's choice here to play a pivotal character. In his previous two films, his appearances were nothing more than glorified cameos, but in this movie, his role is crucial to the plot and the dramatic tension. And as good a director as Shyamalan is, he is not up the challenge of playing the character in this movie. That said, there is much to enjoy about this movie, including a good performance by Gibson (who unfortunately seems as miscast as Bruce Willis did in THE SIXTH SENSE) and a nice turn by Cherry Jones as a clear-thinking deputy. Shyamalan is also a master at developing a story slowly (albeit sometimes too slowly) so that the audience is kept guessing. What worked in Shyamalan's previous two films, however, was keeping the audience's guess work more at bay, not letting them get too close to guessing the real "twist" he had planned. Here, however, his "twist" is completely predictable, the result of some too-obvious writing on Shyamalan's part.
Rating:
Summary: Woah! Signs is a way awesome movie!
Review: Signs is a great movie. That's it. See it. But since that isn't really long enough to be a good review, I'll write more. Signs was written and directed by M. Night Shymalan who wrote and directed The Sixth Sense, another one of the best movies ever! So if you like The Sixth Sense you should see this, too. Both movies are very, very awesome. Also, the acting was really good (very believable). This movie was also scary, but it didn't gross you out by showing tons of blood and guts. This movie is about (of course) signs appearing in crop fields. Yeah, it gets to be more, but I won't say who or what is causing the signs. See the movie, then you'll know. Or read other reviews. They'll tell you, too! This is a movie that also deals with family relationships, not just the freaky things going on in the world. It is a great movie, I highly reccomend it, so go see it. It's awesome!
Rating:
Summary: Strong Signs of something special.
Review: There seem to be a lot of comparison's of M. Night Shyamalan to Steven Spielberg, but that is unfair. Shyamalan is a far more mature and character focused filmmaker than the former whiz-bang wunderkid of seventies popcorn features ever could wish to be. The comparison's to Hitchcock are suitable, since Shyamalan shows the same mastery of subjective camera work that the Master of Suspense had. But one comparison not made is that to famed screenwriter Rod Serling. Not since The Twilight Zone has fantasy themes been used with such quiet power than in Shyamalan's building body of work. Although there is a menacing alien invasion behind all those crop circles in Signs, the invasion actually is an important part in the main character's (beautifully underplayed by the usually comically manic Mel Gibson) crisis of faith. Gordon Hess, having become an atheist when his wife dies in a horrible car accident, finds his struggle complicated by a crop circle. As more and more circles spread and lights appear in the sky over major cities, it becomes apparent that some non-human force is massing for what might be an attack on Earth. What elevates Signs above the average popcorn thriller is its preoccupation with the very real emotional struggle of the lead character. As with The Exorcst, the paranormal is used as a tool in which to examine the mysteries of God's work and it is that that makes Signs something special. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: THE SIGN SAYS GO BUT YIELD
Review: When I first saw a trailer/teaser for this movie, I was determined to see it. I am somewhat a fan of psychological thrillers (The Others) and enjoy most of Mel Gibson's movies. This movie delivered some excellent punches and lightened the mood with a little humor.
The idea is a former preacher, Graham (Mel Gibson) is a widower who tends a corn farm in Bucks County Pennsylvania (in the theater in Lionville PA the audience started to cheer when the name of the county came up on the screen). He lives with his two children and brother (J. Phoenix). The preacher notices some crop circles in his fields and does not think about it. Then reports from all over the country state that similar incidents are occuring all over the place. Then in Mexico, lights appear in the sky. The son believes it is an invasion.
What we learn is that Graham has lost his faith in God since the death of his wife. He no longer preaches the word and refuses to pray.
There is an effective use of terror in this movie, especially the birthday party scene in Brazil. I also was terrified when the house was boarded up and the aliens started attacking the house. Of course we never really see them until the end of the film, but that is what adds to the high level of tension. People are afraid of what they do not understand nor what they cannot see.
Character development is on a high priority in this movie. We know alot about these people by the end; including the children. The special effects were at a minimum but they were over shadowed by the plot. The aliens were uniquely different in design; and they were not pacifists.
I went to see this with a friend who did not want to see it because of the mixed reviews. I NEVER BASE SEEING A MOVIE ON A CRITIC. You should make you own evaluations.
This movie has alot of elements: drama, humor (classic Mel Gibson humor), science fiction and horror. It also has heart and the warmth of family.
I would recommend this film to those who like alot of ingredents in their film. Mel Gibson does another fine job. I love the guy. What an actor.
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