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First he gave us ghosts. Then he gave us
superheroes. Now, in his latest movie Signs, M. Night Shyamalan gives
his audience aliens. Or does he? Well, I am not going to tell you.
Signs picks up a story that was big in the news many years ago - perfect
circles appearing in crops across the globe. Nobody knows if it is
something left by visitors from outer space or just an elaborate hoax.
These circles appear in the fields of Graham Hess, a former man of God
who loses all faith after the death of his wife. Along with his brother
and two young children, Graham is forced to have to learn the truth of
this baffling mystery.
Signs pretty much follows the formula laid out in The Sixth Sense and
Unbreakable, Shyamalan's two previous big hits. That is to say, there is
a lot of dialogue along with some pretty slow parts in the film, but all
the loose ends and coincidences get tied up in the end of the film. The climax
of Signs is even similar to the other two, with flashbacks used to join
all the pieces together. So what I am saying is pretty much that fans of
the first two films are probably going to like this one as well.
What really helps Signs are some strong performances by its cast. Mel
Gibson is excellent in the role of Graham. He plays a man who has lost
so much, and his stone face reflects this perfectly. There is almost no
grin on Gibson's face throughout the entire movie, a pretty big
accomplishment when you consider how jokey some of his previous roles
have been. Joaquin Phoenix is also good in his role as the brother, and
the kid actors even come off strong. What makes their performances even
all the more remarkable is that 95% of the movie takes place in one
setting - their home.
Now I said before that if you liked The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable,
then you would like Signs too. Myself, I didn't much care for The Sixth
Sense. I knew the secret beforehand and to be honest, I found it boring
and slow. I was a fan of Unbreakable though. Despite being slow too at
parts, I loved the ending. With Signs, I was entertained. It too was
slow at parts, to the point of making me sleepy. But the last 45 minutes
had me really tense. I even jumped in my seat a couple of times. As
well, with his other films, Shyamalan puts a memorable ending on Signs
that makes the movie.
 
- 8/10
Sean Cullin -
Senior Editor
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