Excellent if seen from certain angles

Rating: 8/10 (9 August 2004)

Spoiler Warning
I have seen this movie and I liked it. I find this movie a pioneer in dealing with belief in god -as an orthodox issue- through science fiction -as a relatively modern subject- which is what I liked, and that is what some people missed about this movie as they looked at it as is, they didn't read what is between the lines, they ignored that the science fiction was only a means of discussing the orthodox issue of belief. The title could be seen as signs from god instead of signs from the aliens -as suggested by the poster- Starting from the beginning of the movie till its end M. Night Shyamalan was giving hints that everything happens for a reason, that God doesn't just shuffle events or fates randomly. I think that Shyamalan is trying to prove that all the daily events that we either brag or complain about is only a small part of a bigger thing and somehow I think that this is the key to get a better understanding of this movie and that is what I liked about it. I found Shyamalan was a little bit Cartesian in the process of proving the viability of belief in God.
On the other hand, judging this movie on strictly science fiction bases I actually found it hilarious. First of all, the idea of crop signs saying attack or land here or whatever -as suggested by Scary movie 3- is a bit stupid. If I had the technology to travel through the universe would I need landing signs designed on such a "mark your territory" approach? Secondly, the idea of aliens, who by the way can be "erased" by water, invading a planet that is 70% covered by water is amazingly idiotic. Among the things that I also disliked about this movie was the look of the aliens. It was old-fashioned and outdated. As a matter of fact it was the standard issue alien of the 60's brought back to the new millennium, but this could be explained by Shyamalan's vague tendency of unfocusing on the fiction part, rather, making it a means of discussing belief or faith. Finally, I think creating such a controversial movie could be one of the things that contributed to its success.