6 out of 10

Rating: 6/10 (20 September 2002)

Sixth Sense brought an original spin to the Ghost genre. Unbreakable brought an original spin to the Superhero genre. Clearly M. Night Shyamalan likes to bring original spins to his films, since, with his third major feature, he tries to bring an original spin to the Alien Invasion genre.
Graham Hess (Mel Gibson) is a former priest, who has lost his faith in God and himself. Following the pointless death of his wife, Hess throws in the collar and struggles to raise his children with the help of his brother, failed baseballer Merill (Joaquin Phoenix). When crop circles inexplicably appear at his farm, Hess blames local pranksters. But, as local and world-wide news begin to reveal, these signs may come from an otherworldly source whose intentions are decidedly ambiguous.
Shyamalan once again demonstrates where both his strengths and weaknesses are. The acting is uniformly terrific, and Shyamalan coaxes exceptionally naturalistic performances from both Rory Culkin and Abigail Breslin, as Graham's children. Shyamalan, himself, is effective in a scene that reveals the truth behind Graham's loss of faith.
Long scenes and slow, lingering shots crank the tension up to maximum for most of the film. This tension is utterly deflated, however, by a couple of lengthy flashbacks that interrupt the grand finale. Shyamalan has a tendency to undo a lot of his good work by over-explaining the clues (or signs, if you prefer) that are laid before us. It's a shame that he falls back on this again, because, unlike his previous two films, there is no real twist for us to figure out.
Stylistically, Signs is very similar to both Unbreakable and Sixth Sense, and many of the characters feel overly familiar. Indeed Mel Gibson is directly interchangable with Bruce Willis, as a morbid hero who denies the truth behind his identity. The mood and lighting also make Signs feel derivative of Shyamalan's other efforts. However, it's a credit to the quality of this style that it still works to such an extent. The distinctly personal view of a world under invasion makes you feel more for the characters than should be possible given the hokey subject matter, and will linger in your mind longer than most films this summer.