Kitchy "War of the Worlds" meets "Field of Dreams"... M. Night: it's time to retire

Rating: 3/10 (5 August 2002)

"Sixth Sense" was okay, but uninspiring, "Unbreakable" boring... "Signs" is a rather pathetic attempt by M. Night Shamalyan to try to elevate himself to status of Hitchkock (I can't believe this bombastic dork has a gall to compare himself to Spielberg: in the "Signs" special that run on 8/4/02). The beginning credits already spoil the movie by having a very loud, scary, dramatic score overlay. This movie startles, but doesn't scare. It creates tension, but only for a few seconds at a time.
What I see as a biggest problem with the movie is a horribly wasted opportunity to make a good movie. The "War of the Worlds" theme is one of the grandest mistakes I have seen in movie making in the last decade. The director (please retire already: I'm sure you're rich enough) jumps right into the brainless Hollywood mainstream of "bigger is better" mantra. Wouldn't the movie been so much better if we didn't get this idiotic "alien invasion" storyline? I would have been much happier to simply see Mel Gibson being chased by aliens... because they like his corn or something.
Writer, director, actor and producer? Enough is enough. Even George Lucas has gotten help with his writing after "Phantom Menace" was criticized. And as for M. Night's acting... let's just say that Madonna has a leg up on him in the skill department.
3/10 overall, 1/10 story, 6/10 acting (but not M. Night's)