Rating: Summary: Night's most original work to date remains ambiguous. Review: M. Night Shyamalan has done three mainstream films. "The Sixth Sense" which is a rehash of a twist that we have seen before. "Signs" which is a homage to B-Movie films and "Unbreakable". Unbreakable is Night's most original piece but actually has no meaning and there is nothing to take away from this one at all. However there is plenty you can BRING to it because of the nostalgia of Superhero movies of the past. Night does all of that here in a modern day reworking of these themes which is played out with a hint of realism. This sort of gives it more appeal and makes it less fantastic and thus closer to reality. I will not tell you the plot or anything about it because it will ruin it for you. When released the film was based on a "man" who is the "soul-survivor" of a "trainwreck". There was no mention of Superheros when this film was released. Now that it is tagged with that in the product description I think it is safe to say that this is a movie about a Superhero coming to terms with his own powers in the modern world. It is a good flick and well worth watching if you like the nostalgia of this theme. The film does work. The final twist does say ... "Unbreakable 2" but it is more or less there just to play with us a little and broaded the scope of the superhero theme. It is an interesting gimmick more than a plot twist here.
Rating: Summary: M. Night Shyamaln is the master!!! Review: M. Night Shyamalan followed up The Sixth Sense with this very good supernatural thriller. Shyamalan is assimilated with Steven Spielberg, I think, at a younger age of course. He is so good at making movies that I presume that one day he will make movies like that of Spielberg. Bruce Willis was awesome, as always, and Samuel L. Jackson stole every scene that he was in from Willis. The supporting actors gave good performances as well including Robin Wrigh-Penn as Willis's wife and Spencer Treat Clark as his son, who gave a very good performance at pointing a gun at Willis and bawling his guts out about shooting him to show that he was "Unbreakable". All I can say is that it was a very good movie and all the cast members did extraordinaarly good and it just was an overall good movie.
Rating: Summary: THE DARK OF NIGHT Review: M. Night Shamalayan burst on to the scene with the incredible SIXTH SENSE. He is obviously a young director/writer with a vivid imagination, and perhaps a little bit too much belief in his artistry. His third film, "Signs" wasn't all that great, and this middle entry, "Unbreakable" suffers from too much artistic input. Now that may sound crazy, but in watching the special feature in which Night discusses his deleted scenes, and especially in the inclusion of his first home movie, I felt that his ego is a little too much considering this movie. I think the plot is very intriguing, and there are some wonderful shots, including the use of comic book colors to heighten the sense of unreality. Bruce Willis and Spencer Treat Clark do a fantastic job in their roles; Willis is a lot better actor than many people credit him for. Clark is an uncanny little actor, who can be seen in this year's excellent "Mystic River." I found three major problems: first, Shamalayan over-utilized his "from a distance" shots. There were too many of them where all this activity is going on in front of the leading characters and it served no purpose to me other than artistic experimentation. The other two things wrong with this movie, for me, were the lackluster performances of both Samuel L. Jackson and Robin Wright Penn. Jackson has yet to enthrall me with his acting (having watched "Sphere" and "Deep Blue" recently. Penn on the other hand has done some good work, but in this one, she seems unattached and disinterested. "Unbreakable" is an entertaining movie, and it's ending is quite surprising, but pulling a punch at the end doesn't rescue this movie from its other flaws.
Rating: Summary: Deep and extremely thought provoking! Review: Anyone who appreciates beautiful camera work,subtle and dark shots that move gracefully with each scene, and a deep thought- provoking story accompanied with simple yet genuinely intense acting, will tremondously enjoy this movie and give credence to the director's distinguished talent and brilliance to the art of movie making. This is not aimed for an impatient and shallow audience that is easily thrilled and impressed by rapid successions of confusing blurbbed scenes and story-line-like so many other suspense and thriller movies are inundated with; instead, it is aimed for a patient, mature, and deep audience that is easily stirred by palpable emotions and a slow, tense,strenuously emerging plots that superimpose flawlessly and effortlessly with the characters' conflicting emotions. Bruce's character's similarity with the character he plays in the Sixth Sense and the some-what bland relationship with his wife, although tense at the same time, was the reason I did not give Unbreakable a 5-star rating. In short, if you enjoyed the sixth sense, you will enjoy Unbreakable if you keep in mind that it is a different movie that addresses different issues and thus the surprising and unexpected-not shocking-ending!
Rating: Summary: He did it again! Top notch Review: Again, the man behind the SIXTH SENSE made a terrific film. Unreal good! The plot is amazing. The psychological scare tactics terrific. The plausibility of it all... just tremendous. If I made movies, I would want to be this guy! AMAZING!
Rating: Summary: An incredible work of art Review: This is a beautiful work of art. The use of sound, camera angles, color, and the traditional hero myth make for an incredible and inspiring film. This film is incredibly underrated. Look for elements of the hero myth: great acts, a call to adventure, refusal of the call, woman as the temptress, belly of the whale, and apotheosis. I am inspired by this film to accept a call to adventure (and to go out and purchase this DVD).
Rating: Summary: Looooooooong wait for a cool ending Review: This movie is kind of like watching a baseball game: 3 minutes of action packed in to three hours. OK, the movie isn't that long, but it drags on so long you'd think you could cook a turkey in the time it takes to get to the great ending. Good luck.
Rating: Summary: Introduction to a Superhero Kinda of Film ala Hitchock way!! Review: I first saw this movie in the movie theater and I have to admit that even though it kept me thrilled all the way, it just didn't appeal that much to me. It seemed slow, and as I didn't know what to expect, in the end it even seemed a bit silly. I wasn't dissapointed by the film but I didn't like it that much either. I believe that it was due to prejudism and due to the fact that at first I didn't understand the writer's point of view. Many people sounded dissapointed at the end of the film and all this negative fuss made me believe that the film wasn't that much. I write this article after having seen the film for a third time and knowing that it is nothing less that a masterpiece. Here I present some of the factors that led me to this conclusion: -The directing of the film leads to new directions and presents the facts clearly, with a slow but steady pace that increases in climax as the film progresses. I just admired in awe how the director perceived the scenes and presented them in film. Great - Great job!!! -Bruce Willis is great!! Samuel Jackson is even better!! Both of them are what make the movie unique and even though a good script can boost the actor's performance no-one can say that they both act nothing less that perfect!!! -It's a superhero film- But then it's not!! What I mean is that it's not Batman, Superman, Spiderman and all the kinda of superheroes you know of. Its the real superhero kinda of guy that really exists! He might live near you but you just don't know it. He doesn't know it. The facts are presented so well that you only have to be mind opened to accept what the writer wants to tell in his film. Nobody has done it before. Create a myth in a single movie out of nowhere. You just know that M.S. is not only a true talent but the teacher himself who knows what he does and you can trust him. Even though Signs that followed this film was weak because I believe the writer/director was in a hurry to end the film and didn't pay that much attention to the script, I can forgive him as he really doesn't have to prove anything. So don't play this movie for your father because he won't understand it! Watch it closely, and marvel each moment as you will surely do if you like mystery films that hide the supernatural. If you don't then it is almost certainly that you won't like it as you din't like Batman, Superman, The Crow etc.
Rating: Summary: gripping Review: on one side theres a man stricking by the ability to withstand anything, he cant get hurt, but his downfall is water. on the other side there is a man who is fragile and his bones can break easily, and his weekness is stairs and the fragile man reveals the invincable man his secret and things happen. both Willis and Jackson are powerful as always and this one really grabs you from the shocking beginning to the horrible truth at the end.
Rating: Summary: Enticingly Odd Review: I saw this movie for the first time this weekend, and I'm still trying to decide whether or not I like it better than The Sixth Sense. It has an unusual premise, in that it is really a 'reality-based superhero story'. It revolves around two men, one of whom is a 'middle-American' security guard whose marriage is on the verge of falling apart. The other is a man suffering from Osteo-Genesis Imperfecta, a disease that severely weakens the bones and causes them to break easily and often. The second man, Elijah Price, has lived his life virtually out of comic books, and has come to believe that they are really exaggerated tales of ancient mythology which, in turn, are based on actual truth. The movie is about Elijah's search for the type of person that he believes comics depict - someone whose life has been completely untainted by illness or injury, and whose senses and abilities range considerably above the norm. He believes he has found his 'hero' in David Dunn, the sole survivor of a train derailment. As he points out several times through the film (and this becomes a crucial point towards the end of the film), there had been 3 major disasters within a short period of time that had killed an enormous number of people, and only David had come away unscathed. David is naturally sceptical to begin with, something that is aided by distorted memories of a serious car accident that he was involved in earlier in his life. His son is less sceptical and, in his desperation to prove that his dad is something special, at one point turns a gun on him. Through a series of incidences, David comes to the astounding realisation that Elijah was right all along, and there are a number of small, seemingly insignificant points that help to emphasise this. For example, there are several references to the fact that David wakes up every morning with an inexplicable sadness. This is at first explained away as being regret at having sacrificed a star football career for marriage. It is not until after David puts his new-found talents to use by saving the lives of two children from a violent intruder that he comes to understand the sadness is, in fact, the result of not doing what he was born to do - help other people. In tradition with Shyamalan's previous film, The Sixth Sense, there is a twist at the end of this film. Although it doesn't have as much impact as Shyamalan's spooky ghost story, it is still a stunner, nevertheless. Though I don't believe it would affect a person's enjoyment of the movie, I won't give the surprise away here. I know this film did not get good reviews when it was released, but I recommend that people ignore the negative publicity and give it a chance. If you're capable of suspending disbelief, even to a small degree, then the premise of Unbreakable is not such a long stretch of the imagination. And, it's a surprisingly enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours.
|