The Emperor's new clothes

Rating: 1/10 (27 October 2002)

Mr. Shyamalan's first blockbuster "The Sixth Sense" was a phenomenon - not for its quality but for being one of the most overrated movies in decades. Still it had its entertaining moments and the deliberate pace was a recuperation from common Hollywood fare and the maniacal mutilation of scenes by cutting frenziedly around the characters you are supposed to watch and listen to. Then came "Unbreakable" which already was a serious let-down. And now we have "Signs." A movie with a plot so dull that it makes Ed Wood an inspired filmmaker in comparison. A movie so ridiculously xenophobic that it could even make John Milius a serious candidate for the Nobel peace prize. And this inane mess, that "Signs" is, comes from the self-appointed emperor of the esoteric and religious thriller?! When will that kid in the crowd finally step up and point at Mr. Shyamalan exclaiming "But the emperor doesn't wear any clothes."