Superb cinema...

Rating: 8/10 (5 August 2002)

The tale's in the telling, we're told, and I would have to agree. SIGNS is at times as poignant and powerful as Shyamalan's previous two films- and as suspenseful. Like Hitchcock and Romero and Carpenter before him, Shyamalan never loses sight of the fact that it's the WAY you tell a story that makes it memorable (or forgettable). The plot can be by-the-numbers, the characters tried and true... but the director's APPROACH needs to be compelling- consistently (otherwise, s/he's a one-shot wonder). In this regard, Shyamalan soars: his films are superb cinema. All too often, budding filmmakers evince a promise that is never fully realized; on rare occasions, remarkable filmmakers turn every opportunity into the building blocks of a great career. Shyamalan has now carefully laid the foundation.