Unbreakable

In my mind, Shyamalan’s best movie. Close second is Signs (mainly because we had one of those rings in my town, and I’m thinking about it more and more recently ;). Unbreakable has an amazing atmosphere, so ordinary and dark at the same time. Ingenious layering of the story and the method of its delivery makes it seem like it’s based on real events. Absolutely convincing. It doesn’t falter even in its “message", while maintaining high standards as a movie. Shyamalan really should have a crack at filming a real event. In my opinion it would certainly be interesting. (01/15/2007)

Mysteriously-dramatic family thriller with a comic book twist. And an amazing film to go with it. Simply put, Shyamalan has put together a brilliantly crafted machine to take the viewer through the most unbelievable psychological twists and turns. From a completely inconspicuous introduction through a mysterious course of events to the ending that will show you just how close to the truth you have been all along. A journey of discovery and the first glimpse of how unpredictable and adored a creator Night actually is. (05/24/2006)

Interesting idea, weaker processing. The Achilles' heel of the film is that it has no de facto supporting plot - it only works with the subtle transformation of an ordinary person into a hero. Oddly enough, it's not particularly boring, but towards the end of the film, I had a persistent feeling of "when will it finally start". More than the indestructible dad Willis, I liked Samuel L. Jackson's mysterious glass man. Through an interesting subject, Shyamalan didn't quite break into the film, but he got somewhere halfway. Still, I like this "hero myth" film more than The Sixth Sense. The less shocking it is, the more impressive it is. A pleasant spectacle that reflects both the phenomenon of comics and the phenomenon of father-son relationships, but it could not resist superficiality... (02/01/2004)

A very weird play with our expectations. The film at first appears to be a mystery thriller with a protagonist who, like the viewer, is stumbling in the unknown trying to figure things out, only to gradually morph into an intimate take on the comic book tale of an enlightened and strangely gifted hero who has solved part of the mystery with the help of an outsider and now faces the historically determined and inevitable fate of searching for the ultimate villain. Formally and acting-wise everything is OK, precisely subordinated to the demands of Willis's character's changing motivational development, and specifically the cinematography and chilling music cried out for some kind of material appreciation at the time, but the story only really grabbed me fully in the last half hour or so, until then it had been flapping lightly in one place, relying solely on the unravelling of a few outlined motifs in the final dramatic phase. 75% (09/07/2011)

I just found the denouement a little rushed. Since the whole film slowly flows and very little really happens, I found the ending unnecessarily too violent. Considering how Unbreakable is shot and the high quality of its craftsmanship, the ending definitely deserved more space; here I think Shyamalan didn't quite pull it off in terms of the script. Otherwise, I have no complaints – the atmosphere, the music, the cinematography, the directing, the great Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson, and Shyamalan's traditionally great cameo – there's nothing to fault. 85% (09/11/2009)