A great postmodern sci-fi film

Rating: 9/10 (10 August 2002)

*possible spoilers* I find it interesting that those who are members of the postmodern generations (x-ers and millennials) find this movie more appealing then the boomers and others. Perhaps it's because this movie is not about how our scientific minds and weapons destroy the invading forces, but rather how faith and love overcome adversity. It's really not a movie about aliens invading at all. It's a movie about finding your place in the world, and remembering what's important. (Much like Unbreakable... which too was a great postmodern movie)
Signs is great and scary because we are taken into the life of an every day family, and are forced to witness the happenings in the world through their eyes. It is scary because we only know what they know, which is very little. And the scariest part... which many have disliked, was the end, when the aliens just up and left. Why? Because we still don't know. Did they really leave, or is it a trick. And when Gibson's character unplugs the t.v., it became even scarier. The only link to the outside world is severed, and suddenly we are made to feel uneasy again. Shamaylans genius is in his ability to scare us simply by unplugging a t.v.
I mentioned the ending, and how most people gripe about it. But seriously, what do you want. Would it have been better if there was an Independence Day type battle, or Mel Gibson running out with the family, and kicking some alien ass. Or how about a surprise ending where we discover, as has been suggested by some, that the little girl is an alien, and she protects them. Or maybe she turns on them. (I'm picturing the scene in Night of the Living Dead in the cellar with the young girl stabbing her mother with a gardening spade) Personally, I thought the ending was perfect. We don't get to see the fight. We don't get to see the aliens poisoning people. We only know what the family knows. They are just as confused as us, because they don't know any more than us. To go outside the boundaries of their experience would be to ruin the genius of the film, and destroy the suspense.
Go to this movie not because you want to see an alien movie. Go because you want to see a movie about a family and their struggle to overcome adversity in their lives. You will get scarred along the way. Consider it a bonus.