Moving...smart...original

Rating: 8/10 (26 March 2006)

This movie became an instant favorite for me. The characters are relateable, believable and easy to sympathize with. M Night Shamylan weaved a great tale of alien invasion like no other I can remember. The focus is not on the aliens, the horror, the death, the battle, the big wigs trying to stop it...it's on every day people and it shows how something like this brings out the humanity in all of us. The back story...which really when you think about it can be considered as the front story...is one that so many can relate to...a tragedy eats away at a man and his family...causing him to lose faith...but then the aliens come!! and the family comes together to find out there are no coincidences...and faith is regained!! sound corny or clichÃ©?...maybe...but M Night Shamylan presents this tale in such a way that it's hard not to be moved...and to cry along with Mel Gibson who really makes it all too real...what a great performance...so...if you are expecting an alien invasion thriller...skip it...the sci-fi logic and smarts is not all there...but look past that to the real story of humanity within this film...and you will be very pleased!