unbreakable_danis

year: 2000

rated PG-13 (violence, language)

genre: suspense, thriller

cast: Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Robin Wright Penn, Spencer Treat Clark

director: M. Night Shyamalan

screenplay by: M. Night Shyamalan

After miracolously surviving a train wreck, David (Bruce Willis) meets with comic book collector Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson) who tries to convince him that he is invincible.

Unbreakable is one of the most highly anticipated movies to be released this year, by me as well as by most movie fans. It's M. Nigh Shyamalan's follow up to the 1999 sleeper hit, The Sixth Sense (****). Although the two movies are fairly similar, it's hard to compare them, because they're aiming at different targets.

While the Sixth Sense was trying to scare us and shocks us, Unbreakable is a much tamer movie that tries to develope memorable characters entangled in an interesting story. Both movies have a surprise ending, which was immensly effective in Sixth Sense. And the Unbreakable ending? Well, suffice it to say it was disappointing.

Unbreakble, for the most part, is a great movie. M. Night Shyamalan is a very talented director, and he has once again turned a simple story into an exciting, thrilling film. This time, he sets the pace slow. Some may view this as a flaw, but I don't see it as such. The film simply takes its time and developes it's characters and it's story. Even when there's nothing going on and there's no dialogue, Unbreakable is a pleasure to watch simply because of it's wondeful cinematography.

One of the best things about Unbreakable is the acting. Bruce Willis, who basically plays the same character he played in Sixth Sense, gives another very good performance. I really like how he has grown from a simple action hero to a real actor. Samuel L. Jackson is great as usual, he is an excellent actor. I honeslty can't remmember him giving a perforance that wasn't at least "very good". Robin Wright Penn is alright, and her character is given more time than I expected. Spencer Treak Clark may be no Haley Joel Osment, but he does a decent job as the son.

The only major problem with this movie is its ending. It's disappointing and unsatisfying. It's surprising yes, but it's also unbelievable. I think Shyamalan should have spent more time and thought of a better ending, or at least thought of a better way to present the ending. It's just didn't work for me.

Other than that, this is a great movie that does more than most recent Hollywood movies have come close to achieving.

~ Dani Koev