Wonderfully crafted piece on shifty premise

Rating: 8/10 (25 September 2002)

It's only after walking away from the cinema, right before drafting this review, that i did as much as cast my mind over the actual plot of 'Signs'. If you do the same after seeing it, you'll realise that the story (and even, tragically, the ending) come straight out of a 50s B-movie. The script is captivating, but nevertheless falls victim to that other big hollywood temptation - to be disgustingly slushy. Sometimes you just wish they'd all grow up and face certain annihilation like real brain-dead action heroes rather than the well-acted, well-knitted characters they actually are. In fact, to niggle over such trivial details such as the entire plot and entire script would, amazingly, be to detract from just what a great film this is. Offsetting the disappointingly simple plot and could-see-it-from-a-mile-off-ending (though this may be unfair; after all, when i watched Sixth Sense, Shyamalan's best film previously, I figured out the twist in the end within the first few minutes; thousands others didn't, so there you go - i'm just petty) are some good interjections of wry humour in the screenplay, and marvellous cinematography and musical score throughout. This director, I believe, is starting to make a name for himself as THE ultimate atmosphere-builder, essentially the sort of director Hitchcock would be now were he to have access to the same standard of FX (Shyamalan clearly aspires to this standard - the trademark device of images reflected in TV sets, and the presently encouraging use of himself as a character, show indications of this admiration). What separates these two great directors at the moment, though, is that Hitchcock picked good scripts and good intriguing stories, and at the end of the day there is nothing vaguely innovative about this film. What makes it so worth watching is the sheer, permanent tension of the movie - if anything, a bit too heavy; the audience needs a break occasionally - but as it happens I think this overwhelming atmosphere puts you right there with the feelings of the characters Shyamalan is portraying to us. 'Signs' is awesome. Go and see it if you want your breath taken away, but only if you don't mind a pretty lame conclusion to the storyline, and if you don't mind seeing more emotional outpourings than is really necessary. All the same, well worth my four quid.