A perfect blend

Rating: 9/10 (23 July 2006)

M. Night definitely knows how to scare us. In the film we see non traditional camera angles and a whole slew of eerie sounds. He manages to get the feeling of complete alien invasion without the overuse of special effects which sometimes ruin movies. On the surface this looks like a scary sci fi alien movie, but after watching it is much much more. I went in to the movie expecting nothing more than the average. A little bit scary with a typical plot. This was far from it. The story is a perfect blend of classic sci-fi elements, religious messages and appropriate comic relief. In the same movie I laughed, cried and froze with fear. The religious message was pretty powerful in the film, but I feel it wasn't too much to handle. The acting was far better than i expected. Gibson stepped away from a typical role and delivered a convincing performance. Joaquin Pheonix was cast in a role perfect for him and did a great job to keep the movie from getting too serious or too comical at any time. He is quickly becoming one of my favorites. The musical score my James Newton Howard was the icing on the cake in my opinion. The unique score presents itself in the opening credits and is found throughout the whole film, giving it a sense of unity. Without the music, the movie would not have the same potent effect.
Even though I am not very religious myself, i felt very comfortable with the theme that was presented. We are not alone. We may not know who or what, but there is something else out there. There are no coincidences and even though things may seem bad with a little bit of faith and courage things will be alright. Believe in yourself, trust your family and keep your faith. As I said, it's a powerful message, but trust yourself you can handle it. THis movie come highly recommended by me and i feel almost anyone would enjoy it. Powerful, exciting, scary and completely captivating, there is no reason to not see it.