Signs
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Movie Reviews of Signs
Movie Review: I admit, I was wrong
Summary: 5 Stars
I admit I was entirely wrong when I originally outright dismissed this movie when it first came out. I was apparently holding a grudge at the time because of my *strong* dislike for the Sixth Sense. Completely different movies, so my initial reaction upon watching Signs was totally unfair, and for that I feel the need to apologize. I'm sorry!
I guess back then I was expecting Signs to be an all-out alien invading film that involves the mysterious space creatures constantly finding terrifying ways to torture the people on Earth. Instead, the storyline is much slower paced, allowing more time to build suspense, and allowing more time to slowly unravel what the aliens look like and what their intentions are. Sorry, I didn't realize this back when the movie first came out.
What's even more mysterious about my dislike for Signs back in the day is that I usually LOVE small town, family-oriented films. I don't know what I was thinking back then to be honest, I really don't.
It's also entirely possible I just didn't get M. Night Shyamalan's style. After all, let's be completely honest here- his style was quite revolutionary when it first came out. I mean, this isn't your ordinary horror film. Some may love his style, others may not, but the one thing that can't be denied is that his style is certainly *different*.
Anyway, Signs does a great job keeping the suspense constant by way of releasing a very small amount of storyline at a time. It doesn't give away too much too soon so the movie ultimately becomes predictable. No, it avoids all THAT typical nonsense.
My favorite part of film is probably when the entire family is in the car, and hear alien screeches and sounds coming from the baby monitor. Everyone then exits the car, as the sound continues (apparently coming from the nearby cornfield, though to be honest, I was quite confused over what was taking place in Pennsylvania and what was taking place in Mexico City and other places). Talk about a perfectly executed eerie build-up in horror quality THIS moment is.
The ending is probably the weakest part, and in fact, the only negative I have with the movie. The best part about Signs is that, for the majority of it, we didn't actually SEE the aliens. So when the ending came along... I was disappointed.
The way the aliens appear should have been left up to our imaginations so we could have interpreted what they look like by ourselves. Small complaint, I promise.
Overall, yeah, the suspense is really good. I totally don't know why I didn't like this film when it was first released. I love it now. Mel Gibson nails his role, and the rest of the characters (including the little boy who DOES look like Macaulay Culkin) are right on the money as well. For the most part, this is horror storytelling done right.
Movie Review: A Remarkably Well-Crafted Sci-Fi Horror
Summary: 5 Stars
When I first saw this film in 2002, it was and still remains the only movie that has ever truly scared me. Of course, my taste has changed considerably since those days, so I recently decided to revisit the film. Upon rewatching it, I've found myself more impressed than I've ever been with this masterpiece.
The story follows Graham Hess (Gibson), a former reverend torn apart by the loss of his wife; his two children Morgan (Culkin) and Bo (Breslin); and his brother, Merrill (Phoenix), a former minor league baseball star. This already stressed out family is put under a considerably heavier trial when they find mysterious patterns in their crops and are then tormented by the following alien invasion of Earth.
"Signs" is the perfect example of the "less is more" approach. Director M. Night Shyamalan builds the tension so expertly throughout the film using nothing but silence and clever camera angles that by the time the climax arrives my chest is about to explode. In fact, I have never seen another film that utilizes silence and shadows so well, it's really what makes the film so scary for me. Anytime we see any part of the aliens, it's always so brief or obscured that we're never really sure what it was that we just saw.
However, the film does contain some rather illogical flaws, but for the sake of spoilers, I won't go into them. Besides, I, for one, was too immersed in the story to care.
Another thing I greatly appreciated in "Signs" was James Newton Howard's excellent score. It was not ubiquitous, cliché, or intrusive like the identical "original" scores in all the Hollywood fright films of late. It was there when it should have been and it wasn't when it shouldn't have been.
But "Signs" is not just a frightening sci-fi film, it is also a film about faith. Graham is a man struggling with his beliefs, which leads to a rather powerful scene toward the end of the film in which he must talk his son through a violent asthma attack while exclaiming "I hate you!" at God. Such scenes are also quite demanding from an acting standpoint, and the acting is capably handled by both of the leading men and also by the small band of supporting actors. Oh, this reminds me, keep your eyes open for a cool little cameo by Stella's Michael Showalter.
On top of all this, the film also features beautiful, vivid cinematography and genuinely ingenius, fluid camera movements from Shyamalan.
I guess "Signs" is one of those "love it or hate it" films, as I have heard lots of opinions on both sides of the spectrum and not too many in the gray area. As you have probably noticed, I am one of those who love it and I will watch and enjoy this excellent piece of cinema for years to come.
9.5/10
Movie Review: The Homage of M. Night Shyamalan
Summary: 5 Stars
Forget the ©M. Night Shyamalan plot twist?® that everyone has been spoiled with in the past. It is not here, period end of story. What Night is doing here is to show us that he has an interest in the horror sci-fi classics and would like to see these resurrected for the 21st century viewer. That is not a bad idea at all and Signs could also be played out by reducing your screen to black/white by adjusting the television nobs. When you do that you can see exactly where Night is coming from. This is one big homage movie with some experimental areas thrown in for good measure.The problem with this movie is that the marketing campaign and its theme is totally out of touch with what this film is about. Forget about the poster too. That is a crock. What you have here is essentially "Night of the Living Dead" crossed with "It Came From Outer Space". If anything the later half of this film is a straight forward nod to George A. Romero with one or two little tiny-weenie twists to keep us all happy.
Mostly this film is about a looming apocalypse of extraterrestrial proportions. Our main protagonist (Gibson) plays an ex-vicar who has lost all faith in God because of a family accident. His son is a real nerd with asthma, his daughter has a water neurosis and his brother, an ex-baseball player, who lives with the family, seems to have a personality problem. When something starts making patterns in their fields (crop circles) Gibson tries to keep his family calm while the world goes into a dark phase because the aliens are coming. The movie is mostly psychological and is played out very well with a number of real seat jerkers to boot. You will never look at your pantry the same way again.
The film does have some minuses though. It is slow and often stalls. We also learn that M. Night Shyamalan can not act, however in this movie he does show us that he has.. gasp... A SENSE OF HUMOUR!, which has been lacking in his other production. This film is very funny at times, in fact laugh out loud so.
In short this is a homage movie to all the sci-fi and horror classics. Movies buffs will love it to pieces, but those expecting Night to throw our world upside with another out of the blue plot twist will be sorely, deeply, disappointed. Just stay on track with the homage theme and you will do much better and enjoy it all the more for it. The marketing people for this movie should have their pay checks revoked. They killed this guys winning streak, but this is a great movie all the same and worth watching more than once.
**As a note I am not a fanboy who wants to give everything this guy does 5 stars. I did not like his 6th sense all that much to be honest, but this one is not bad.. not bad at all especially if you are a movie buff who has some general knowledge about this genre.**
Movie Review: Is it possible that there are no coincidences?
Summary: 5 Stars
Frankly, I don't like giving good reviews, nor paying complements to a young director who strikes me as somewhat arrogant. It took me several viewings to accept this movie as something worthy of even a 2-star rating. Having enjoyed "The Sixth Sense", I was terribly disappointed in "Signs" when I saw it in the theater, feeling that it was ultimately a silly little film about Martians. Now, even as a curmudgeon who doesn't want to concede admiration, I must confess that "Signs" is, to me, one of the greatest, most moving films made in recent decades.
After watching the DVD (a gift), I found my curiosity piqued in a very mild and intangible way. I was compelled to watch it many more times, continuously, relentlessly. I provide my opinion here simply to help potential viewers avoid disappointment: my only advice is to disregard the notion that this will be a horror movie. Senses of horror will likely come afterwards, in recollections and musings, with very few shocker-seens during the movie.
The key is, I think, to realize that this movie is about the events, great and small, that comprise our lives, our sense of self and of others. There is nothing in this film that lacks significance in some way; that can be said about much good literature and cinema, works of art that have been very carefully crafted, but this is the only film that truly hinges on the content of every single frame. Every subtlety is important, every word, every sound... from the almost imperceptable softness of wind chimes and chirping insects to the trilling vocalizations and scurrying footsteps of unseen invaders, the phenomenal music and intensely quiet pace that carries the whole movie, the characters' deep sighs, vocal inflections, subtle facial communications, slight nuances in dialect such as the locality's accentuated "T" consonances...
Once the realization comes that everything in this movie is necessary, the emotive power becomes overwhelming, the true horrors become apparent, the thoughtfulness and awareness pervading the movie is made tangible, and the events taking place in the movie saturate one's senses.
Perhaps this review is not very informative, but it seems important to emphasize that this movie is far more dramatic than scary, and would have benefited from being marketed that way; viewers will appreciate "Signs" far more if they are not lured into expectations of horror and suspense in any traditional way, but rather into an emotional, truly heart-wrenching story of people who are simply trying to live in the way we all must, through the mundane and the complicated, banal and urgent, random and yet somehow cohesive events that all people live through, that we are all trying to live through, right now.
Movie Review: Another terrific piece of film from M Night Shyamalan.
Summary: 5 Stars
SIGNS (2002)THE GOOD:
--This film scared me on a deep level, to the point of it probably being one of the scariest films I've ever seen. The 'boo' frights were terrific and many of them made me jump out of my skin. The scares work best when they are psychological and silent, or all in your head. Just imagine what this family goes through, particularly in the brilliant finale. M Night Shyamalan puts you right in their shoes and doesn't let up with the terror until the very last frame.
--Is "Signs" a horror movie? Yes. Is it a sci-fi movie? Yes. But when it all comes down to it, what is this movie genre-wise? This movie, to me at least, was all about the tale of this family, and the strife they're going through after losing someone close to them. The father is a priest who has lost all faith and the kids prefer their father's brother. "Signs" is about aliens, but it's about how the alien attack affects the family and makes them bring out the love and trust they all must have in each other to survive such a horrifying ordeal. This was shown amazingly in the wonderful and tragic final dinner scene.
--Mel Gibson gives one of his finest performances to date. He is a tour-de-force as Graham Hess; he sold me completely in his role. The inner turmoil the character was experiencing was so brilliantly portrayed by Gibson, during quiet, lonely moments or through big, dramatic scenes such as the aforementioned final dinner scene. Joaquin Phoenix was very strong and always believable in his supporting performance as Graham's brother Merrill. The adorable Abigail Breslin and another one of the Culkin clan, Rory Culkin, are terrific rising stars with a lot of talent at such young ages.
--M Night Shyamalan continues his run of terrific writing/directing efforts, he brings across the suspense of the situations in the film seamlessly, and injects a lot of emotion into the film. The strange and subtle camera movements and angles were also much appreciated.
THE BAD:
--I must warn that this section of my review has nothing more, nothing less than THE BIGGEST SPOILERS FOR "SIGNS". DO NOT READ IF YOU DO NOT WISHED TO BE SPOILED! Like many others, I found the way the extra-terrestrials were defeated at the end of the film a little ludicrous and too convenient. This has all been said before - but why the goddamn hell would the aliens invade a planet that is 75% water and they're allergic to the stuff? END SPOILERS!
RATING:
9/10 - Another moving film experience from the one and only M Night Shyamalan, also his most terrifying motion picture to date.
IF YOU LIKED THIS MOVIE I RECOMMEND:
Poltergeist (8/10)
The Ring (8/10)
Scary Movie 3 (3/10)
The Sixth Sense (9/10)
Unbreakable (9/10)