Disappointed

Rating: 5/10 (15 March 2005)

I'm a big fan of M. Night Shyamalan and immensely enjoyed his other three films. However, I feel that all the things which were great about "The Sixth Sense", "The Village", and "Unbreakable" are contrasted by the disappointing and predictable "Signs". This film would be considered a dud for an ordinary director, but I am especially disappointed since it was made by a higher caliber of filmmaker in M. Night Shyamalan. Almost all of the elements that make his other films great are missing from "Signs". To me, this movie seems like a cheap imitation of Shyamalan's other three films. There is a small number of redeeming factors which I will get to first, however they are few and far between. First of, as in all of his other films Shyamalan does a great job of directing. I really enjoy the way he uses the camera and the abstract angles at which he prefers to shoot some of his scenes. The only other aspect of this movie that I liked was Mel Gibson's performance. There are only a handful of other actors that can bring so much humility and sincerity to a character. Gibson truly is a superb actor and his performance is absolutely top notch. The compliments, however, pretty much end here.
One of the most disappointing things about this film is that the plot simply doesn't hold water (no pun intended for those who've seen it). You watch it for two hours and at the end you're left wondering what truly was the point. Shyamalan attempts to convey a message of belief, or the loss of, in God and in other things that human beings have been debating over for thousands of years. Yet it's hard to take away any kind of serious message when you're looking at some alien that belongs in a corny 1950's horror film. Simply put, this message along with the film both miss the mark completely. Unlike the other three Shyamalan films, "Signs" left me completely devoid of any true feelings or thoughts. I think that "Stuart Litte" (which was written by M. Night) had a more profound message than did "Signs". What is most disappointing is that like them or not, Shyamalan's other films at least made you think. "Signs", on the other hand, only made me wonder what it was that Shyamalan was thinking when he made this film.