Movie Review – “Unbreakable”

Something tells me M. Night Shyamalan had a bad
experience with water as a child. Between this and
Signs

Cast, Crew, and Other Info

Bruce Willis as David Dunn

Samuel L. Jackson as Elijah Price

Robin Wright Penn as Audrey Dunn

Spencer Treat Clark as Joseph Dunn

Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan

Complete information is available from the
IMDB
.

Buy from: Amazon.com
or Amazon.ca

Past movie reviews can be found here.

Premise

A man is the sole survivor of a train crash, and he
doesn’t have a
scratch on him. Another man has a condition that
makes him very
fragile.

High Point

The workout.

Low Point

Some of the early camera work.

The Scores

There have been attempts to make comics seem like the
real world in
comics, but this is the only one I know of that
really stayed grounded
on film. I give the originality 4 out of 6
for this style;
the actual content wasn’t anything new.

The effects were limited, although the arm
during the stair
accident was very well done. I can’t think of other
effects in the
movie. I give it 4 out of 6.

The story was fairly well written. We’ve
got strong
characters once again, as well as a fairly well
developed plot. The
cameo was a loose thread left distractingly hanging.
I give it 5 out
of 6.

The acting was very good. Bruce Willis
played David very
well, and Spencer Treat Clark did an excellent job.
Shyamalan can
cast and direct his actors very well. I give it 6
out of 6.

The emotional response was, for me, stronger
than it was for
other Shyamalan films, partly because this is the one
with a “twist” I
didn’t see. (It sounds like most saw this one
coming, but missed the
twist in The Sixth Sense. For me, it was
the other way
around. I also predicted Signs, and haven’t
yet seen The
Village
.) I think my own interest in comic
books helped that
along, too. Some of the individual moments were very
entertaining, as
well. The workout scene, the school nurse scene, and
the train
station scene (with its consequences) were very
resonant for me. They
go a long way to overcoming my irritation at some of
the camera work.
I give it 5 out of 6.

The production was overdone. The music was
fantastic, as was
the sound in general (like the moment in which David
“tunes out” the
world after bumping the guy with the gun), but the
cameras were
irritating. I like an active camera, but when it
serves a purpose.
Just panning by David when he’s talking to Elijah, or
dizzily circling
around the characters in the hospital it just a
distraction that draws
attention to the camera itself, and not the images
it’s capturing. It
really made it hard to get absorbed early on. I give
it 3 out of 6.

Overall, it’s a good movie, but it does show
signs of
experimentation and growth with a good director who
should have
checked his dailies more often and reshot some
scenes. I give it 4
out of 6.

In total, Unbreakable receives 31 out of 42.

7 replies on “Movie Review – “Unbreakable””

  1. My Impression
    I enjoyed the movie but felt like it was a slightly watered-down version of The Sixth Sense. I still get chills thinking about The Sixth Sense, while this movie doesn’t provide such a strong reaction.

  2. For comic book fans
    We all know the hero always has an icky oedipian relationship with his nemesis. I liked this very much.

  3. Boring
    I found the movie to be quite boring and was a bit frustrated when reviewers kept raving about how there were such long segments where nobody was talking – like that’s specifically a good thing in its own. It just didn’t seem to hold my interest very well, which was disappointing based on the cast and premise.

    Damien

    • Re: Boring
      Personal taste in movies notwithstanding, that you have a short attention
      span is not a shortcoming of the film.

      I think the movie made great use of silence — since it’s a movie trying to
      emulate a comic book, this makes perfect sense. Comics use still images as
      short-cuts to lots of expository dialogue — they could have done this with
      Unbreakable, but that just would have made it overly chatty IMHO.

  4. Which Workout?
    I’m going to assume your highpoint refers to the workout with his kid, but there was another one that was cut (but which is included as an extra) that takes place at the University Gym.

    I understand why it was cut – it was already done with the kid scene – but, damn, the looks on all those jocks’ faces were priceless.

    This is my favourite Shyamalan film – I prefer it over Sixth Sense (which I can’t watch again, as once you know the ending…) and Signs (which I’m starting to dislike), and I have yet to see The Village.

    • Re: Which Workout?

      Sixth Sense (which I can’t watch again, as once you know the ending…) and Signs (which I’m starting to dislike), and I have yet to see The Village.

      You see, I thought Sixth Sense was a pretty boring movie until the ending. Because of the ending, I found watching it again more enjoyable than the first viewing since it’s interesting to observe the clues giving throughout the movie about the ending.

      I thought Signs was just ok, and The Village I found pretty boring. Unbreakable is definatly my favorite movie as well.

    • Re: Which Workout?

      I’m going to assume your highpoint refers to the workout
      with his kid, but there was another one that was cut (but
      which is included as an extra) that takes place at the
      University Gym.

      Yes, I meant the one with his kid.

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