Signs
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Movie Reviews of Signs
Movie Review: Shyamalan Does It Again!
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm a big moviegoer, but I rarely have a great sense of anticipation about a movie, because I've learned that the more I look forward to seeing something, the more disappointed I usually am. So far the movies of writer/director M. Night Shyamalan have all lived up to the hype...Signs presents a Close Encounters type scenario, from a more down-to-earth perspective: The Earth may be about to receive an Alien visitation, but rather than taking a Global-response view to the impending crisis, we see the POV of Farmer Graham Hess, a former man-of-the-cloth who has lost his faith in the wake of the tragic death of his wife. The film opens with Graham, his Brother (Joaquin Phoenix), and two children waking to an amazing sight: Their Cornfield has been marked by a Crop-sign, and they soon learn that this is becoming a world-wide phenomenon. The children immediately leap upon the Alien-visitation theory, while Graham and his brother take the more down-to-Earth approach of suspecting local pranksters.
Things soon take a more ominous turn, as strange noises are heard, Graham sees a weird figure on the roof of his barn, and the kids begin to intercept snippets of what might be an extra-terrestrial conversation.
I kept waiting for Shyamalan to drop the ball.....creating a film that is based so much on the apprehension of a terrible event seems very tricky: If he had slipped up just once, shown a little too much (or not enough), the result could have been laughable. I'm happy to say he not only doesn't make that fatal slip, he actually manages to maintain that feeling of impending dread right until the last frame. I'm pretty jaded as far as fright-films go, but my heart was almost leaping out of my chest towards the end of Signs. This is a film that definitely bears repeated viewings. Gibson is superb as the concerned father whose shaken faith colors every aspect of his life, and Shyamalan has written the part perfectly. (The dinner scene, where one of the kids suggestion that they say Grace is met with an explosive "I WILL NOT WASTE ANOTHER MINUTE OF MY LIFE WITH PRAYER!" is astonshingly effective.) The acting is great all around, and I thought the casting of the Children was especially well-done.
The restraint excersized by Shyamalan is very effective in building the mood. We get a feel for what is going on Globally, but our concern never goes beyond the confines of the farmhouse where the Hess Family lives. James Newton-Howard's score is top-notch, and adds tremendously to the overall creepiness of the experience. I can't recommend Signs enough. It's great to see a thought-provoking film amidst the usual summer brainlessness.
Movie Review: This director's best work to date
Summary: 5 Stars
Signs is by far the most likeable, and worthwhile alien film ever made. It had more of a plot than any other movie with Aliens in it has. It sure dominates "It came from the sky", and beats "The day the earth stood still", but I have to admit, both of those were pretty good for their times. This one sort of left the aliens in the shadows until it really needed to bring them out, and reveal their true nature. Then again, that's the purpose behind M. Night Shyamalan's genius.
Graham Hess (Mel Gibson) is living a pretty strange life after his wife was killed in a mysterious car accident, but it is now the present time, 6 months later. His children (Rory Culkin, and Abigail Breslin) are under depression. His little girl, Bo, only drinking half a glass of water then saying it's contaminated. His brother of very few words (Joaquin Phoenix) tries to help by moving in with him, but maybe it's only making things worse.
The matter changes when a mysterious crop circle appears in the family corn fields. Normally you'd shake this off, but one day later, over 50 crop circles appear all over India. It seems that someone is trying to prove a point by playing this perfectly executed prank, but the problem doesn't stop there. It seems as though people are making sightings of strange creatures just barely after the events of the crop circles, and it doesn't look like they want to leave.
The acting in this one was great. The kid actors did a very good job, especially Abigail Breslin who played little Bo Hess. She's so precious. There was something about Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix that made them show their acting talents, even though it didn't seem like they were doing much, but it was great acting on everyone's part, maybe Rory Culkin just a little bit less, but he did good also. Probably runs in the famous Culkin family.
The DVD was certainly entertaining escpecially with the deleted scenes. I always like to see DVD's with special features like that. Even M. Night Shyamalans first scary movie that he ever made when he was a kid. Seriously, how many people can say they started making movies as a kid? Not many, and it's surprising to see these, and they're actually pretty funny.
What I liked about the movie the best were the aliens. You never even see them until the ending. You don't even need to see them just to know they're there, that what was what kept me watching it till the end. It truly did scare to think they might be hiding in the darkness someday. They could just as well exist. Definetelty not a movie to pass up. It's out of this world!
Movie Review: Watch the sky
Summary: 5 Stars
Signs is by far the most likeable, and worthwhile alien film ever made. It had more of a plot than any other movie with Aliens in it has. It sure dominates "It came from the sky", and beats "The day the earth stood still", but I have to admit, both of those were pretty good for their times. This one sort of left the aliens in the shadows until it really needed to bring them out, and reveal their true nature. Then again, that's the purpose behind M. Night Shyamalan's genius.
Graham Hess (Mel Gibson) is living a pretty strange life after his wife was killed in a mysterious car accident, but it is now the present time, 6 months later. His children (Rory Culkin, and Abigail Breslin) are under depression. His little girl, Bo, only drinking half a glass of water then saying it's contaminated. His brother of very few words (Joaquin Phoenix) tries to help by moving in with him, but maybe it's only making things worse.
The matter changes when a mysterious crop circle appears in the family corn fields. Normally you'd shake this off, but one day later, over 50 crop circles appear all over India. It seems that someone is trying to prove a point by playing this perfectly executed prank, but the problem doesn't stop there. It seems as though people are making sightings of strange creatures just barely after the events of the crop circles, and it doesn't look like they want to leave.
The acting in this one was great. The kid actors did a very good job, especially Abigail Breslin who played little Bo Hess. She's so precious. There was something about Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix that made them show their acting talents, even though it didn't seem like they were doing much, but it was great acting on everyone's part, maybe Rory Culkin just a little bit less, but he did good also. Probably runs in the famous Culkin family.
The DVD was certainly entertaining escpecially with the deleted scenes. I always like to see DVD's with special features like that. Even M. Night Shyamalans first scary movie that he ever made when he was a kid. Seriously, how many people can say they started making movies as a kid? Not many, and it's surprising to see these, and they're actually pretty funny.
What I liked about the movie the best were the aliens. You never even see them until the ending. You don't even need to see them just to know they're there, that what was what kept me watching it till the end. It truly did scare to think they might be hiding in the darkness someday. They could just as well exist. Definetelty not a movie to pass up. It's out of this world!
Movie Review: Worth buying!!! (No spoilers here)
Summary: 5 Stars
Ok, I've read a few of the negative reviews that people did on this movie so I thought I'd take the time to defend it for all of you who haven't seen the film but are considering buying it.Signs was not your typical alien invasion movie. There aren't any dazzling special effects. There's no graphic alien attack scenes. There are no images of the usual global chaos that generally accompany an alien invasion. This was no "Independence Day" type movie.
Rather than doing the usual Alien movie, Shyamalan decides to take a different approach. If you've seen The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable, you should already be familiar with his directing style. Rather than making a big movie centered around a big event, he takes things to a more personal level. He takes a character living what appears to be a typical or small life and gives them some extraordinary circumstance to deal with. Its not about everyone else when it comes to his movies. The story is never REALLY about the weird events, but rather, about the character's experiences with them.
I really think some people were disappointed in Signs because it wasn't at all what they expected. They went into the movie thinking it would be all the things I listed that it was not.
Now I'll tell you what it was and hopefully you'll take the time to watch this movie and enjoy it as much as I did.
This was a movie full of both humor and suspense. Signs is about a family and how they come together to deal with the idea that not only are we not alone in the universe, but that aliens might be preparing an invasion. Shyamalan manages to make us laugh at all the right moments as well as make us jump back with surprise. He has a real way of catching us off guard which is one of the reasons why I loved Signs. Just when you begin to relax, something exciting or scary or strange will happen to put you back on the edge of your seat.
But more importantly, Shyamalan adds something new to the usual formula of alien movies. He puts the element of faith into the plot. Not only is the lead character (Mel gibson) dealing with the idea of aliens attacking, but he's also trying to deal with the death of his wife and his lost faith. The alien invasion causes him to ask the question, does everything happen for a reason? Or are we all on our own here?
But make no mistake, this is not a movie I'd let a child see. It gets pretty scary at times so if you're not one who enjoys getting freaked out every 10 minutes, Signs is not for you.
If you are one who enjoys great films... rent or buy signs. It's one of the best movies I've seen all year.
Movie Review: A masterpiece of filmmaking, but not for everyone.
Summary: 5 Stars
Most reviews on this film typically falls at one extreme or the other. People who hated the movie almost always point to the aliens being disappointing either visually or intellectually. People who loved it usually fall in two categories - either they enjoyed it at an emotional level in terms of the suspense and mystery and didn't overanalyze it, or they have a filmmaker's mind and see it for the brilliance in areas of the characterization, acting, cinematography and the simple yet powerful examination of the human struggle to find meaning in life. This movie is NOT storyline/plot driven, if you know a little bit about filmmaking, you'll understand when I say that the plot is just a minor player/device in a film whose "purpose is to evoke pure emotion through the use of skilled acting and direction" (Roger Ebert).Stanley Kubrick said there is one type of movie viewers that he hates and do not make films for - the type that can't enjoy a movie simply on the emotional level because they try to analyze everything, yet fail to correctly analyze the movie because it is beyond them intellectually. Kubrick always tries to satisfy at least one of the following: the average Joe moviegoer or the true film critics. This is what M. Night Shyamalan has done with Signs. He didn't bother to explain why the aliens are bipedal, why they do not mix well with water or why they create crop circles (gasp! Isn't that what the movie poster displays!? Oh no! It doesn't follow your expectations! God forbid a movie that gives you something unexpected!). If you want to see sci-fi that attempt to explain xeno-biology or xeno-technology, watch Star Trek: Next Generation TV series. For those of you with good filmmaking background or those who just want to enjoy a great movie that is suspenseful and emotion provoking with a bit of philosophy, this is a film you must not miss.
Oh, one last thing, those of you who think this is a movie to promote religion, what religion does it promote? Bring this movie to a priest/rabbi/whoever and ask him if he would use this as a tool to convert people or ask him to point out where it supports their specific religion. God did not show up anywhere in this movie to make the aliens susceptible to water. God/Allah/Yahweh/Zeus did not come down and save all the religious people. SOMETHING did allow the humans to be saved and Father Graham Hess interprets it as an act of God and thus restores his faith. The moviegoer is free to interpret it as luck, as a supernatural force, as anything and that is the POINT of the movie - people will react differently to explain the cause of events.