It's great if you know what to expect.

Rating: Null/10 (23 July 2018)

3.5/4
M. Night Shyamalan, The Sixth Sense director, returns to the big screen again in 2002 with his new movie, Signs. This film is truly great, if poorly marketed all the way down to the opening credits. The selling point of a Shyamalan movie had become his suspense (which was here) as well as his signature twist (which took a backseat in this movie).
After the success of The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable, he decided to market Signs as a bit more than it actually was. If you watch Signs expecting big thrills and some truly terrifying sequences, you may walk out disappointed. This movie shows that Shyamalan can, in fact, direct more than one genre.
The story centers around a widower named Graham Hess (Mel Gibson), his younger adult brother (Joaquin Phoenix), and his two children Morgan and Bo (Rory Culkin and Abagail Breslin). Graham and his two children are grieving the loss of his wife (their mother) and his live-in brother is caught up in the family drama. When they are conflicted with the precursors to an alien invasion, it drives the family into isolation, which makes them closer. It's a very smart and engaging movie that touches on the subjects of despair and fear in a more mature manner than you might expect. The plot is driven by the characters more so than any action, and I found the "alien invasion" to be a mere plot device to propel what is really a drama.
The acting is what makes this great. The four main characters have to carry the movie for well over half of the total run time, and they do a good job of keeping the audience involved. In my opinion, this is one of Mel Gibson's better preformances, and as far as a conflicted man mourning the death of his wife, he brings a lot to the table. Joaquin Phoenix gives his standard average effort, and Rory Culkin is great as the son. M. Night Shyamalan has proven to be good at working with kids, first Cole in Sixth Sense, then Joseph in Unbreakable, and now Morgan in Signs.
Due to the fact that this is not the thriller you probably thought it was, there seems to be very easy Easter eggs scattered throughout this movie, and a much lesser end twist. There is only one way in which this movie doesn't succeed: the "end twist" seems to answer the question you didn't have, and wouldn't have had. While it truly doesn't compare to his twist in The Sixth Sense, it's easy to forgive, again, considering the joy of Signs are the characters.
This is a truly excellent movie from Shyamalan, although it's a shame some people didn't receive it too well. It had a good build-up with great momentum, but as far as chills go, it delivers fairly little. If this were marketed as a Shyamalan crossover drama, I guarantee it would be a blockbuster.