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Published on Wednesday, November 15, 2000 - 2:21pm |
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Darth Siskel Calls UNBREAKABLE "Best Movie Of The Year With The Worst Ending"!!
Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
Okay. Many of you have been writing me to say that you're glad I'm wrong and that UNBREAKABLE is going to be genius. Let's set the record straight. I never said this movie was going to be terrible. I said it was a disappointment considering how long I've been a fan of Shyamalan. Unlike most of you, I've been following this guy's career for about three years now, since my first exposure to his writing. I have utmost respect for his abilities as a writer, and I thought SIXTH SENSE was a wonderful step up as a director. By the way... I want to correct something DS says below, a common misconception. This isn't M. Night's second film. It's his fourth. PRAYING WITH ANGER and WIDE AWAKE both came before THE SIXTH SENSE. You just didn't see them. When Darth Siskel called me to say he'd seen the new film, I quizzed him at length about it, and there's still major issues I have with this film narratively. Will it look great? Will the performances be top-notch? Perhaps. Will this excuse the film's gaping narrative flaws? Well, it seems to have done so for many viewers so far, DarthSiskel among them, so maybe no one else cares about scripts adding up to something or characters having some sort of internal consistency or purpose. And watch out for that ending... it seems to have played havoc with DarthSiskel's evening. Here he is to tell you all about it in a review that's free of any major spoilage...
"UNBREAKABLE: THE BEST MOVIE OF THE YEAR, WITH THE WORST ENDING OF THE
YEAR" By Darth Siskel
Truebelievers,
Tonight I got to see UNBREAKABLE! It was THE movie I wanted to see more
than any other this fall. I'm a fan of the Sixth Sense, but I went into that one knowing the big surprise, so I don't LOVE it. I probably would have loved it if I hadn't figured out the surprise from the commercials. Unbreakable
is a different story. There's a big surprise, but I doubt many will guess
it.
Unbreakable is a great second film for M. Night Shamalamadingdong. It's
only simularity to the Sixth Sense is the dark, serious tone in which it plays out. A consistant tone kept up throughout it's 2 hours and change running time, UNTIL the last 30 seconds, when the movie suddenly turns RETARDED, followed by the credits rolling. More on that in a second.
* slight spoiler alert*
Unbreakable is a story about a real world comic book hero. Bruce Willis is
a special man who has extraordinary powers, and with the help of another special person, Sam Jackson, he figures out why and how to use these powers. There is no flying in this movie, no heat vision, nobody punches asteroids
away from earth, and there are no battles with giant robots. The powers
aren't over the top, and are explained realistically. Willis was simply born different than most people. He can press alot more weight than the average person, never gets sick, and has never been injured, not even in the huge train wreck that killed about 170 people. Not a cut, bruise, or scratch. You could say he's a mutant, and one of his other gifts is a psychic ability to see evil things that people do.
I was completely drawn into this movie from start to finish. I was loving
it. A huge comicbook fan myself, I really loved the idea of bringing a superhero down to earth so much that I could believe it was possible... that maybe we could have a Superman of our own. Superhero films have ranged
from great fantasy to flashy campy crapfest fantasy, but Unbreakable never goes there. I don't look at it as a fantasy at all. It's about a superhero with super powers, but I was convinced it was real!!
My disapointment didn't come till the last minute...maybe 30 seconds. The
whole movie is a buildup to Willis finally accepting his place in the world, realizing how he should use his gifts, and when we finally get there, the movie hits us with a big shocker surprise, which I LOVED, but then, it suddenly becomes fantasy. The movie doesn't outright explain everything, leaving alot to
think about, but the whole tone of the movie changed suddenly, not because of the surprise, but how they wrap it up after the surprise. Rather than showing the exploits of Willis, now a full hero, we get a freeze frame on him and Jackson, with a title card explaining what happens to them. It was like Roger
Rabbit suddenly popped in on the last minute of Silence of the Lambs and farted.
I think M Night was trying to give us a 'comic book' ending. I, and many
in the New York audience I saw it with thought it was just a STUPID ending. It was sloppy, unsatisfying & anticlimactic. If the movie had cut away after the big surprise, and actually showed what the title cards had said, it would've been so much better.
I still really LOVE THIS MOVIE, but remain perplexed about the intentions
of the ending. I really can't wait till it comes out so I can talk heavy about it...especially with comic book fans.
Darth Siskel ending transmission.
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Reader Talkback
Mouse by dunsurfin | Nov 15th, 2000 01:26:52 PM | therefore its still a good
movie by i_can't_get_laid | Nov 15th, 2000 01:27:48 PM | are they in tights though? by sundown | Nov 15th, 2000 01:37:10 PM | I hope I don't wreck the movie
for everyone by soylentphil | Nov 15th, 2000 01:43:15 PM | Movies with bizarro endings...
your faves? Most hated? by Roguewriter | Nov 15th, 2000 01:51:40 PM | Unfathomable by Hud | Nov 15th, 2000 02:03:43 PM | Best endings by Hud | Nov 15th, 2000 02:07:18 PM | I Agree With HUD by Cooler-than-Thou | Nov 15th, 2000 02:13:10 PM | Various Ramblings... by Dlhstar | Nov 15th, 2000 02:15:44 PM | My favorite ending... by endo | Nov 15th, 2000 02:17:53 PM | Concur w/ APES and SHARKS... by Roguewriter | Nov 15th, 2000 02:19:58 PM | Best Middle Ever by Cooler-than-Thou | Nov 15th, 2000 02:29:20 PM | The best ending ever... by squonk | Nov 15th, 2000 02:37:46 PM | Magnolia hands down strangest
POINTLESS ending by jetfire1814 | Nov 15th, 2000 02:38:19 PM | And the name of the character
is... by haunted | Nov 15th, 2000 02:41:12 PM | Endings - Arlington Road and
others... by dunsurfin | Nov 15th, 2000 02:43:03 PM | endings by rabidrandy | Nov 15th, 2000 02:58:20 PM | Best ending by Ted Terrific | Nov 15th, 2000 03:01:32 PM | wait,wait by rabidrandy | Nov 15th, 2000 03:04:59 PM | Best Endings? by spenworks | Nov 15th, 2000 03:12:07 PM | No giant robots? Todd will be
sad. by Uncapie | Nov 15th, 2000 03:19:38 PM | Endings by Henrik | Nov 15th, 2000 03:22:07 PM | Not just best, but weird,
unsettling, bizarre... by Roguewriter | Nov 15th, 2000 03:23:14 PM | Re: Best Endings by FatWilllie | Nov 15th, 2000 03:31:16 PM | Re: Best Endings by FatWilllie | Nov 15th, 2000 03:35:09 PM | Perhaps this seemingly shitty
ending is a red herring? by Toe Jam | Nov 15th, 2000 03:59:41 PM | Great endings by BenReilly | Nov 15th, 2000 04:27:31 PM | Endings by ThereIsNoSpoon | Nov 15th, 2000 04:27:52 PM | First-Act-only movies by M.
Knight by Matt X | Nov 15th, 2000 04:28:38 PM | Toe Jam I agree, but... by Darth Yddet | Nov 15th, 2000 04:31:00 PM | Things to do in denver by Ashen Shugar | Nov 15th, 2000 04:34:01 PM | Things to do in denver when
you're dead by Ashen Shugar | Nov 15th, 2000 04:34:36 PM | by jetfire1814 | Nov 15th, 2000 05:15:44 PM | Unbreakable Ending & more on
magnolia by jetfire1814 | Nov 15th, 2000 05:18:28 PM | You wanna talk puzzlers of an
ending.... by tripod | Nov 15th, 2000 06:23:54 PM | surprise endings are cool and
all... by joesnuff | Nov 15th, 2000 06:31:13 PM | Night's First Movie by Fluffhead | Nov 15th, 2000 06:52:12 PM | Best Ever Ending!! by ralphvz | Nov 15th, 2000 07:23:42 PM | Best endings... by Uncapie | Nov 15th, 2000 07:38:44 PM | Magnolia's Frogs by Dannychico | Nov 15th, 2000 07:41:29 PM | OHMSS by Norman Smiley | Nov 15th, 2000 08:25:27 PM | Best movie ending of all
time..... by newagegunn | Nov 15th, 2000 09:07:33 PM | The Last Broadcast??? by TheMadHatter | Nov 15th, 2000 09:32:23 PM | No Spoon, Glockula. Keep the
Secret... by Roger U. Roundly | Nov 15th, 2000 11:46:20 PM | Addendum. (actual Quote) by Roger U. Roundly | Nov 15th, 2000 11:54:50 PM | retro? by darthsanders | Nov 15th, 2000 11:57:37 PM | Addendum. (Aftermath) by Roger U. Roundly | Nov 16th, 2000 12:07:04 AM | Aftermath Revisited... by Roger U. Roundly | Nov 16th, 2000 12:12:21 AM | So what's the ending...? by Mr_Intimidation | Nov 16th, 2000 01:22:20 AM | There Was That Movie Where It
Turned Out The Guy Had A
Penis... by Buzz Maverik | Nov 16th, 2000 01:27:23 AM | Best Ending of all time by Jedi 7 | Nov 16th, 2000 01:50:08 AM | Man, I'm going crazy here . .
. by ol' painless | Nov 16th, 2000 04:26:02 AM | The best ending ever.....THE
WICKER MAN by Jon L. Ander | Nov 16th, 2000 08:13:13 AM | Endings by Bobbafatass | Nov 16th, 2000 09:14:42 AM | Lets talk about WORST endings
or NON endings ever!! by Dash101 | Nov 16th, 2000 10:12:17 AM | spank me by myfavouritesock | Nov 16th, 2000 10:13:11 AM | My two pennies worth by Creep_Thunder | Nov 16th, 2000 10:14:45 AM | Best ending by Fred | Nov 16th, 2000 10:36:20 AM | Speaking of Endings by Brooklyn Bred | Nov 16th, 2000 03:20:44 PM | Barry Lyndon by FatWilllie | Nov 16th, 2000 03:30:14 PM | Frankenheimer knows how to end
a movie by Darth Brooks | Nov 16th, 2000 04:22:36 PM | The ending made it by Thunderball | Nov 16th, 2000 05:44:10 PM | Jacob's Ladder by BlueBomm | Nov 16th, 2000 07:51:17 PM | Best endings ever by 2GOLD | Nov 16th, 2000 10:31:30 PM | The thing about twist
endings... by Robin Goodfellow | Nov 16th, 2000 10:58:00 PM | I second Robin Goodfellow's
nomination by Mitzi | Nov 17th, 2000 12:53:54 AM | I've changed my mind. by Creep_Thunder | Nov 17th, 2000 08:09:29 AM | I've changed my mind. by Creep_Thunder | Nov 17th, 2000 08:09:58 AM | I've changed my mind. by Creep_Thunder | Nov 17th, 2000 08:10:56 AM | I've changed my mind by Creep_Thunder | Nov 17th, 2000 08:12:00 AM | AAAARG GODAMMIT!!!!! by Creep_Thunder | Nov 17th, 2000 08:45:38 AM | Seriously, THE weirdest are... by Tracian | Nov 17th, 2000 05:15:45 PM |
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