A Refreshing Story, Fantastic Movie Overall

Rating: 10/10 (31 December 2002)

I really enjoyed this film, and would recommend it to others as it combines moments which appeal to a very wide range of audiences. Signs could probably be described as the other side of Independence Day: it doesn't focus on multi-million special effects scenes, and you never actually see any big battle scenes as the action is all on the 'home front' - the beauty is in the way that its told, leaving most of that to your imagination as you get a glimpse of the events unfolding in a realistic fashion. This is a refreshing feature in an alien movie, which normally would follow the genre and include explicit mass conflict, military scenes.
The plot would be the only feature of this film that could be considered as slightly dubious. I won't include any spoilers, but the situation seems to be resolved slightly too quickly and I think it would have been nice to have prolonged the action for a little longer. However, Shyamalan builds up the suspense very well and manages to create a very atmospheric screenplay. Perhaps the alien isn't the most original creation, but I don't think this matters too much as the atmosphere around it is built up perfectly.

This movie rates very highly for me, I think any plot holes are far compensated for by a well-told story. Star Rating: 4.5 out of 5, Excellent Overall.