Rating: 7/10
Review date: May 17, 2002
Following the box-office success of The Sixth Sense, M. Night Shyamalan brought us another similar movie which features two characters. One is a black man whose bones are easy to break due to a certain disease. The other guy is a white man who seems to be unbreakable as he is the only survivor in a train derailment. These two characters meet and the black man helps the white man to find his identity in life�
I have to admit that I wasn�t interested to watch this movie at all. I find the trailer very boring and it doesn�t seem to contain much. Only two years after the movie was released did I got watch it and that was only because a good friend keep pestering me to do it.
Surprisingly, I find this movie very entertaining just like The Sixth Sense despite of its slow pace and gradual revelation of what it is all about. The storyline is the winner here as Shyamalan cleverly disguised it under a layer of red herrings which keep me guessing until the end on the purpose of the movie.
The music can also be found at the right places and the use of silence is also very effective to reinforce the gloomy atmosphere throughout the movie e.g. the rainy shots and the constantly dark environments.
Unbreakable�s strongest element lies in Shyamalan�s ability to reveal bits and pieces of the story gradually by dropping hints here and there from the beginning with some slight misleading parts that keeps the audience wondering and the feeling of intrigue because of the inability to understand the whole picture before it is finally revealed in the end.
Bruce Willis and David Dunn plays his part in a very convincing manner as someone who doesn�t understand what his purpose in life is and why is he the sole survivor in the train accident while Samuel L. Jackson is also at his very best here as Elijah Price who also struggles to understand his own role in the world.
This movie is not recommended for those people who can�t appreciate the gradual revelation of a story�s plot until the end just like The Sixth Sense. For anyone who doesn�t like Shyamalan�s previous movie, you won�t enjoy Unbreakable as well because they both sports the same element of not knowing what�s going to happen in the end with the usual style of drawing things out slowly for the audience.
Don�t forget to keep an eye out for Shyamalan who has a small appearance in Unbreakable. Here�s a hint: he�s Indian� Happy hunting!
Memorable quote: �They call me Mr. Glass��
-Samuel L. Jackson as Elijah Price-
(c) 2002 Martin Taidy