Disappointing, Derivative

Rating: 2/10 (10 August 2002)

As a big fan of The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable, I had high expectations for Signs. Unfortunately, not only did Signs fail to meet these expectations; it was also a very disappointing film, not nearly up to the high standards set by Shyamalan's previous work.
Perhaps the most disappointing thing about Signs is its lack of originality. The brilliance of The Sixth Sense and, to a lesser extent, Unbreakable, was the creativity and fresh vision of a new filmmaker who was unencumbered by expectations or commercial pressures.
Signs is almost purely derivative. The directing devise of showing only glimpses of the invading aliens until the climatic scene is right out of Jaws (in which Stephen Spielberg delayed revealing the shark with much greater effect). The theme of a man who's lost his faith due to a personal tragedy has been dealt with many times -- and with much more subtly and emotion -- than it is here. The death of Gibson's wife (without giving away too many details) is immediately recognizable as a theft from an episode of Homicide. And the idea of alien invaders has been seen many times, most recently in Independence Day.
Another problem with Signs is the premise itself. Unlike Independence Day, which had no pretensions to serious drama but developed great characters in the midst of exciting action, Signs takes itself very seriously. Yet, it's hard to take seriously a bunch of aliens who are so utterly inept that a farmer can lock them in a room and sit in his car the driveway while they try figure a way out. Despite having the technology to travel across the galaxy to kick some human butt, these aliens sure are stupid.
Finally, the writing and direction are just not up to Shyamalan's past standards. I found no depth or subtly to Gibson's performance--and I am usually a defender of his. Joaquin Phoenix, who is supposed to be Gibson's dumb jock brother, plays the role with too much intelligence. One minute he's telling a story of a woman puking at a party, the next he's speaking eloquently about the need for his brother to keep his faith. Finally, Abilgail Breslin's brilliant performance as Gibson's daughter is overshadowed by a terrible performance by Rory Culkin as Gibson's son. In Culkin's defense, Shyamalan's script hands him line after line that is just not believable for a child. Nevertheless, Culkin is not convincing as a serious, sulking young boy.
Despite some suspenseful scenes, I found this movie highly disappointing and, at times, almost laughable (particularly the climactic scene). I hope this is not an indication that Shyamalan may suffer much the same fate as Quentin Tarentino, being unable to live up to his brilliant early work.