Intense. A good mixture of humour & suspense [POSSIBLE SPOILERS]

Rating: Null/10 (8 October 2002)

There was a fantastic atmosphere when I saw this film about a month ago. People screaming, laughing, making stupid comments (like "That's their house!" when we're shown the illustration of a farmhouse in flames), etc. I have never been to a movie with such an amazing atmosphere before, so [on that alone] this is a movie well worth seeing.
M. Night Shyamalan directs this perfectly lulling the audience in with humour, then hitting the shock moment. The sense of dread is maintained throughout the movie, as we see the Invasion from the point of view of a widowed minister who has lost his faith, his two children and his brother. It's good to see the effects of an invasion on a small-scale, as opposed to a global scale like 'Independence Day', a vehicle for Will (uh uh Big Will ha-ha ha-ha uh yi-yi-yi-yi) Smith. The effects on the family makes you CARE what happens to them, which is good, obviously, since what good is a movie if you really don't care what happens?
Excellent acting all round. Shyamalan really knows how to get the best out of child actors- Rory Culkin and Abigail Breslin (who got "awww" ed everytime she said something cute) were both terrific. Gibson & Phoenix were also good as usual.
I don't really see the point of doing a whole GoodStuff/BadStuff that I usually do, as the film is almost flawless. It is easily more suspenseful than 'The Others' and 'What Lies Beneath'. My friends and I started a round of applause when the film ended and, while only about 10 others joined in, it certainly deserved it. Why don't people clap at movies anymore? I can understand people not clapping if a movie was crap, but if a film is good and you've enjoyed yourself why not show your appreciation? CLAP for god's sake!