Overrated

Rating: 5/10 (24 September 2002)

In what can only be a tribute to hype (of the movie and the "genius" who directed it), this movie is rated very high. Yes, the director and the actors do a fine job, but the story is silly. How can a movie be great if its plot is downright silly. One example for readers of this to ponder is the purpose of the crop circles in the movie - what if there are no crops, what do they do? What if the farmer mowed the fields after the crop circles appeared? Why weren't they using the stars or satellites or ground-based beacons or even maps and photographs?
While watching it, I could not help wondering whether Signs was intended to be a comedy or not. I'm still not sure. My hope is that Shyamalan made Signs to find out just how far his skill as an director could carry him on its own, without any help from the plot. I hope the next film he does has a plausible and well-written plot, one that does not rely on tricks such as the one in The Sixth Sense. His sense of camera, lighting, frame, pacing, etc. deserve better material with which to work.