Signs
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Movie Reviews of Signs
Movie Review: Absolutely Wonderful...A Breath Of Fresh Air!
Summary: 5 Stars
Mr.Shyamalan is brilliant and one of a kind. Thankfully, this is not a "show me" movie, but rather the "camera angles" feed the imagination, which can be more intense and frightening. The mood is created through the mind and not fancy-shmansy, in your face, special effects...This work is truely a breath of fresh air.This is not a typical sci-fi movie with aliens running amuck, laser guns, & "rambo" type heros. The story has more depth to it than what is shown on the screen. It does address crop circles ("They are either a hoax or they are real") and an alien invasion, but he also addresses a family's struggle to get thru a tragic event together, which is non-alien related. Could the aliens really represent those trials in life? They remain disguised in fields of thought and then at some point try to find a way in. It appears that "boarding up the windows" will keep them out. However, the answer may not be a complex solution, but rather something simple that is right in front. Shyamalan's focus on the importance, strength, & support of family is to be commended. He shows us the unique quirks/characteristics of each of the family members and how life has brought them all together at that important time. A strong point in the movie is that there is no such thing as coincidence or irony. A powerful & intriguing concept meant to be shared with the audience to ponder.
This is a great movie full of meaning and insight. Mel Gibson did a great job as always! I was really impressed though with JOAQUIN PHOENIX's performance as Uncle Merrill. He should win an award for this role. His acting talent is truely amazing. Wow! Joaquin has really mastered the art of getting into character. You can see and feel the emotions in his facial expressions, voice, and body language that make Merrill come to life on the screen. He would have also been great way back during the silent film era for a good reason. He is able to convey feelings with facial expressions alone. He doesn't have to say a word and yet you know what the character is feeling. There are few actors in my mind that can do this. Usually the words are first and then the emotion or the emotion is sudden to reflect the scene. With him the feeling is genuine & flows, you know what emotion is going on before the words ever come out. True talent! What a brilliant actor!
Movie Review: You'll love it or hate it, and we may all miss the point!
Summary: 5 Stars
There are over 1000 reviews and it's a pretty even split, 500 think it's a masterpiece and 500 think it totally sucks. Which will you be, hard to say, but that's oddly the whole point. Signs is open to interpretation, as either a masterpiece or a total flop, and the title SIGNS is about things we interpret. My wife sees signs everywhere, there's a rainbow and she tells me it is a good omen, it's her interpretation of what she sees.
Mel Gibson plays a Preacher and Religious people interpret things as having a deeper and greaeter meaning.
And that's what SIGNS is, a movie about four people and one in particular who interprets his reality in certain ways.
When the media suggests aliens are arriving on Earth we barely see them, but our main characters interpret this as a terrifying invasion of War of the Worlds proportions. Ironically, it turns out the aliens are a pretty useless lot who can be defeated quite easily. At the same time as our four main characters are percieving a nightmare from outer space, we learn the Preacher has changed his belief system, he lost his faith when his wife was taken from him in a car accident. In the finale, the Preacher concocts a rather outrageous set of unlikely interpretations of events, and uses his wild beleifs to save his family from the aliens. It's quirky and oddball and done with a mix of tension and humor, but ultimately the movie SIGNS is about how people interpret reality and give meaning to it which may or may not be there. Does this movie mean something? Some say it's just a bad film. Others attribute deep meaning to it. I say that's what the director wanted, it's the same as the way we do or do not see signs in life, its our choice to see meaning in events. The Preacher decides to see meanings in all kinds of things at the end, at it's quite preposterous really, but however absurd his interpretations may be, his faith helps him. I think the film Signs is saying that faith in God, or seeing signs or any kind of faith, may seem nutty and irrational and a far fetched way of interpreting events, but faith in itself helps human beings to cope with problems and to survive. This is not what you expect, it is simply a little film about characters.
Personally, I liked it, but that's because of how I interpreted it. You may hate it, it's up to you what you see in the film!
Movie Review: Who says it has to be about aliens?
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm amazed at how many people were disappointed with this film on discovering that it involves no explosions, fancy special effects, or fighter jets with big guns shooting down alien spacecraft. Honestly, is that what our culture is coming to? Do we NEED those things to be entertained? Based on many of these reviews of 3 stars or less, I'd say so.
It seems that people haven't figured out yet that in Shyamalan's movies aren't about the supernatural, or in this case the extraterrestrial, so much as they are about what it is in these things that brings out the humanity in us. The fact that most of the tension generated in this movie is from a force that we hardly ever see but in grainy shots on a television proves that fear and vulnerability are not things that come from without, but from within. It takes a very perceptive and daring filmmaker to set aside the obvious, brazenly Hollywood action-fest that so many people expect when they think of alien movies in order to bring out the truth and humility in such a story. When faced with certain disaster, how many of us would go out there and pick up the first lazer blaster or fighter jet we could find and save the world single-handedly? And how many of us, believing it could be our last night on earth, would board ourselves up in our homes, eating our favorite comfort foods, grasping on to the last happy memories we have in a futile effort to ease the fear of death inside of us? Shyamalan knows that most of us in the real world would do the latter.
Furthermore, "Signs" is a story about a man struggling with his faith. It is about knowing that we are not alone (and that has nothing to do with aliens. . .). The "Signs" in this movie aren't so much the crop signs we see in the previews, but the moments and aspects of our daily lives that ultimately bring us to some greater conclusion. THAT is what this movie is about. Not aliens.
So, with that said, I'd like to thank Mr. Shyamalan for this film and for restoring real humanity to a genre (and, more generally, a medium) that has become increasingly artificial. . . and smack everyone who is so desensitized by that artificiality that they are no longer able to see beyond the delusory violence and egocentricity of contemporary cinema.
Movie Review: EXCELLENT! Tense, edge-of-seat, scary (what you don't see..)
Summary: 5 Stars
If you love to be scared, love to think, and love and believe in UFO's, you will LOVE this movie! I saw this movie the first day it came out, and I am SO GLAD that I did! It scared the heck of me! Like they have said (i.e. Hitchcock): "What you don't see, scares more". The sounds and what you do not see are the things in this film, NOT what you see, which terrifies you! It is well-written, well-directed, and well-acted! Everybody is top notch. The film's story: aliens are on earth, and more are approaching Earth, as a minister (MEL GIBSON) tangles with his feelings after his wife dies. It seems the End of the World is near! I don't want to say too much, but I have enjoyed this director's work; I LOVED "Sixth Sense" (as did most people), I liked "UNBREAKABLE" very much! (contrary to what people have said and think, and it is a shame "Unbreakable" was a disappoint at the box office), and now "SIGNS", which is another masterpiece and up there with these other titles. (I have the first 2 movies on DVD, and plan on purchasing this title too!) I am beginning to like this director more than Spielberg - and liken him to Spielberg; matter-of-fact, I used to love Spielberg's films, but now admire, and rather watch, this director's movies more than Spielberg's films! This director has a different style and way of telling a story: always different, unique, mysterious, twists and turns, and you never know the complete ending until the VERY end of the film (the very last second!) (always a surprise ending, a twist)! When everything comes together! Trust me, if this film does not make you think, does not make you squirm, does not make you tense, and does not scare you, then you are either dead, tired, crazy, idiotic, stupid, or not appreciative of fine filmmaking and workmanship, and excellent storytelling! This movie made close to $300 million dollars in the USA, which should tell you this is an excellent movie and destined to be a classic!, and that this is a great movie, where people feel it is well made, and definitely puts a GREAT scare into you! All I can say is: BRAVO! EXCELLENT! SEE IT! BUY IT! (Which I intend to do when it comes out January 7, 2003, which you should also!) Thank you! -Paul "Gringo Latino" A.Movie Review: It's a movie for heaven's sake
Summary: 5 Stars
I think too many people have come to expect Independence Day and Armageddon style movies when it comes to sci-fi. This movie shows what so-called "horror" movies of the last 15 years have been chills, and suspense. The filmaker isn't trying to remake War of the Worlds, and he isn't trying to make a super-scientific documentary. No movie can do all those things and still be worth the entertainment of watching it. Sure, the characters in the film, at times, do things that are not very logical for someone in their predicament.....but you find such things in virtually every film ever made.
Also, alot of critics of this film were upset at the lack of attention given to the whole big picture of the invasion...and the aliens as characters. That's not what the film is about. It's not about how a race of aliens try to take over the earth, it's about how one family deals with, and survives, such an invasion. If you want the whole situation explained to the hilt, and the focus put squarely on the extraterrestrials.....watch Predator or one of the Alien movies.
If you can, as with any movie, suspend disbelief and just take in what the movie is providing, then you will enjoy this film. The only people who will not like this film are action junkies and fans of the stupid "pop-movie" phenomenon. I will throw one more shot in by saying that this was a far better film than The Sixth Sense....which was long, boring, and made me completely unable to suspend disbelief as I was able to do with this movie.
I personally applaud Shyamalan for taking the riskier, less popular approach to the alien invasion movie genre. Maybe you won't feel the same, but not every movie can appeal to everyone. As for me, I enjoyed Signs very much. The characters are not hollow and there is an underlying sense of heart to the story that you usually don't get in a sci-fi flick. And there simply hasn't been a movie in the better part of the last 10 years that has had moments that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up......but this one did. Maybe, it's because deep down you know that there's nothing that says something like this can't, or ever will, happen. (unless you're naive)