Hey folks, Harry here with a complete SPOILER FREE review of UNBREAKABLE, from the Premiere in New York last night.... Very cool... I see this film next week, and I'm giddy. I have... thus far defeated the spoiler demons.... I know basically nothing other than Moriarty doesn't like the ending as written in the script.... so basically I think the trailer is awesome, and that the official site looks cool...
Hey Harry, just came back from watching Unbreakable and spotting celebs at the NYC Premiere. To begin the evening M. Night Shyamalan got in front of the audience and gave a little spiel thanking the studio for granting him artistic freedom and for his great crew and recognizing both Bruce Willis and Samuel Jackson, who received warm applause from the audience upon their introduction.
So where to begin, this is a very ambitious project considering it is along the same vein as The Sixth Sense and will undoubtedly draw comparisons. However, in many ways this is a much better film. The overall craft of the film is superior to the Sixth Sense. The camera work and direction are exquisite. We are treated to multiple long takes with very creative shots moving back and forth between the two principals on screen. In a way, the creativity of the actual filming was reminiscent of Hitchcock. While most new filmmakers today seem to concentrate on filming techniques with editing in mind, it was refreshing to experience more traditional creativity in filming with careful attention paid to actual telling the story.
Additionally, the story line is much more interesting and very well paced, allowing the viewer to really immerse themselves in the film and in the gradual unfolding of the story line.
As far as the ending (don't worry, no spoilers) the jury is still out as far as I'm concerned. It seemed a bit abrupt at the time, but seems to be settling in just right as I think about it. We'll see how it feels when it released next Wednesday.
Overall, it works and is very interesting and entertaining to watch. It may not knock your socks off like The Sixth Sense, but it slowly peels them off with a surprising tug at the end. More than anything, it marks the arrival of M. Night as something other than a one hit wonder and even prompts me to hopefully remark that we are just beginning to see what Mr. Shyamalan will offer us in the future, for if his next films are as well made as this one, they can only get better.
The Man At The Rear Window
And here is JoBlo's review.... and it seems he thinks quite highly of the film.... Here ya go...
Here it is, dude...a SPOILER-FREE review of UNBREAKABLE! I tried my darndest
to make sure that I didn't mention anything incriminating to the mystery
that is this great film in my review, and I believe I have succeeded. And
yup, it's true....the less you know, the better!! I knew dick and loved it.
Have a blast, Tiger...
JoBlo
JoBlo.Com
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UNBREAKABLE
RATING: 8/10 --> Great movie
You gotta hand it to M. Night Shyamalan. The man practically came out of
nowhere and suddenly he's written and directed two of the most memorable
movies of the past two years. First THE SIXTH SENSE (8/10), which blew
everyone away with its ending and its unbelievable box-office success, and
now this movie, whose trailer is easily the best teaser for any movie that
I've seen over the past year. It's mysterious, it's intriguing and it makes
you want to see the movie. Excellent! And with that in mind, I will be
writing this review knowing full well that nobody wants any of the film
ruined for them, so I assure you that I will not be including any spoilers
about the movie's plot in this critique. I just love a good mystery and sure
wouldn't want to ruin it for anyone else.
PLOT:
Set in Philadelphia, this film stars two diametrically opposed men. One man
is black and has a disease which makes his bones very easy to break. The
other man is white and seems to be unbreakable. He is the only survivor of a
train wreck and can't seem to figure out why. The first man helps the second
man come to some kind of understanding about his situation.
CRITIQUE:
M. Night Shyamalan continues to impress. Here's yet another original
creation of his that manages to successfully slap together a unique mystery,
interesting characters, real life situations to which we could all relate
and a touch of the paranormal. I love this guy! I hope he keeps it up
because more movies like this is what we need. Of course, much like any
other great film, this one is not for everybody. The film does have quite
the slow pace, might come off as repetitive to some people and also manages
to parallel THE SIXTH SENSE in various ways. But for me, I was
hooked-lined-and-sinkered from its first two scenes, which much like the
film's teaser trailer, just made me sit up and say, "What's up with that?
Intriguing...now tell me more." The sequences in question basically set up
the foundation of the two main characters in this film, and let me tell you,
they grabbed me and that was that. I couldn't wait to find out why they were
the way that they were, and what it all meant. But Shyamalan draws the film
out slowly. He already seems to have developed a great eye for the camera,
setting up angles just right, enough to give us a taste of the scene, but
not the whole bite. There are also little hints dropped here and there, red
herrings and a Hitchcockian score providing just enough background to allow
for a gradual development of the richer points in the script. Like
Hitchcock, Shyamalan also seems to be finding himself a small part in his
own films. Here, he shows up as a suspicious "drug dealer" at a sports
stadium.
But don't expect a horror with this film. That's not what it is. It's not a
thriller either. No major "thrill" scenes in this movie. In fact, it isn't
until the last twenty minutes that the film's leisurely pace is disturbed by
some invigorating energy. I would consider this picture to be more like a
good ol' fashioned mystery a la Twilight Zone. Set in an ordinary
environment with believable characters, this film manages to creep us out
with elements which just don't seem to make sense in our reality. Of course,
much like any other good story, this film would not be a complete success
unless we connected to the characters on the screen, and in this movie, I
did. In fact, we could all relate to what Bruce's character is essentially
going through. He doesn't understand his place in the world. He is confused.
He is not sure why he is what he is. What is his destiny? We've all felt
like him at some point or another in our lives and you learn to recognize
that in his character early on.
Bruce downplayed his character as much as he did the one in THE SIXTH SENSE
(almost seemed like the same guy but in a different circumstance), while Sam
Jackson was surprisingly restrained as the bizarre dude with the love of
comic books. And as for the ending...don't worry I won't be giving anything
away here, but suffice it to say that unlike THE SIXTH SENSE, a movie which
I believed was taken to another level with that slap-in-your-face
conclusion, this film's finish felt much more like a "Hmmmmm, yeah okay,
that makes sense" kind of thing. Of course, some might scoff at the ending,
but that all depends on whether or not you were "into" the film as it moved
along. It certainly didn't make or break the movie for me, and I doubt it
will blow anyone else away either. This film is not about the ending
necessarily. It is about the journey, a journey that is deliberately
unhurried, melancholic and intriguing. My guess is that anyone who was
greatly interested in this film by its teaser, will more than likely be
impressed with this film's brilliant manner of storytelling. It looks like
Shyamalan is here to stay. Of course, once the movie is over, and this seems
to be developing into a very cool Shyamalan tradition, you will undoubtedly
feel the need to discuss the film with others. It's engaging, it's
mysterious, perhaps even unbelievable to the more cynical in our society,
but ultimately the film is an excellent demonstration of what a great
director, a solid script, a deeper, meaningful message and well crafted
characters can bring to a theatrical presentation as such. For me, the film
worked on various levels and I hope that many others like it just as much.
That's it and I hope I didn't spoil anything for you...that's half the fun!
JoBlo
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