Unbreakable

A couple a weeks ago on a night where I had some time to myself I was able to sit down and rewatch one of my favorite movies and my favorite M. Night Shyamalan film. This movie is a suspense thriller with supernatural overtones that revolves around a man who learns something extraordinary about himself after a devastating accident. I don't get why a lot of the reviews for this movie hammered on this movie very unfairly in my opinion. It is rare to see a movie that has buildup of atmosphere, strong character interaction and stories heavily centered on characters and their psychology.

Unbreakable deals with comic books, but approaches it at a level of sophistication and intellect that has never been used before in comic book movies. The movie walks a very fine line between reality and the comic-book world, at the same time walking a very fine line in terms of audience perception. Some chalk it up to be a silly comic-book movie, others a brilliant comic-book movie. While I would guess that most movie viewers would vote that Sixth Sense is the best M. Night Shyamalan movie I would have to disagree in that Unbreakable is a superior movie in every aspect.

Shyamalan really showed a stroke of brilliance by getting Serra to be his cinematographer and to play around with the aesthetics of the film. In keeping true to the comic book theme, it is brilliant that each scene the view is given to us in such a way that you feel like you are looking through or in between something, like the squares of each frame in a comic book. Also they use a dark, slightly blue filter throughout most of the movie, giving the movie a bold yet very eerie tone. Showing that the world can be a rough and scary place, but it can also be fought and overcome. It is evident that time and effort went into every shot. It may not slap many viewers in the face as brilliant, but it really strikes a chord with me.

James Newton Howard gives a stunning score that makes this movie. It is compelling and booming. It's very powerful, but not over-the-top and excessive. For anyone with the soundtrack, check out 'The Orange Man' and 'Visions'. These are two of the most powerful pieces of any film score around. It is compelling and booming. It's very powerful, but not over-the-top and excessive. The emotional weight and emotive power of his chords and his overall composition are just downright chilling.

The writing and the directing are just as stunning and captivating as the score. Almost every line of dialogue and scene is almost left out on an island to stand on its own. Yet the dialogue is minimal and instead uses the emotions and facial expressions by each character to develop greater emotional connection. The character's environment plays a similar role and certain colors are often brought up to represent distinct emotions and thoughts the characters are feeling.

I could probably go on for pages on this film just because of the emotion that it is able to connect to with the viewing audience. Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson were superb and because of the fact that this is a complete film to me I have given it four buckets of popcorn out of five. This is a must own for any movie lover.

-The Movie Man-