Vastly underrated!

Rating: 8/10 (2 January 2010)

First off, lets dispense with all this hooey about this movie being a failure...both critically and according to box office receipts. Sure, the reviews weren't as grand as those of M.Nights previous works...but the same could be said of most directors...the George Lucas sagas, Francis Ford Coppola's "Peggy Sue Got Married" as opposed to his "Godfather" movies. Like everything in this big world, success and failure are cyclical. With regards to profits? well, it has made back its investment many times over...can the same be said for "Matrix Revelations?"
OK, now to brass taxes: This movie is great for several reason, not the least being that it does what it initially sets about to do...build suspense, create drama, and finally, crescendo and resolve. I suppose if there is a complaint, and this I will freely admit, it is that the plot threads at times take too long to develop. This has been a quibble with many of this directors films. It isn't necessarily a bad thing. With a movie such as "The Sixth Sense" the languid pace accentuated the thrill of discovery. But in "Signs" the slowness of development serves to hinder the overall feel of the film...which is to say that what should have been a very tense last half hour, gets sidetracked with explanation too often.
That aside, however, I thought this movie was a near masterpiece of the genre. The web of characters are all drawn convincingly to a very satisfying conclusion. The movie is rich with convincing portrayals and though slow in developing, the plot elements are well thought out. I think that this film suffered from some questionable promotion...and that its audience was perhaps expecting something more fast paced and typically "Hollywood" in presentation. But that's OK, let those who expect the typical grumble about it...I am perfectly content enjoying something that uses style and cunning to build tension rather that an explosion every ten minutes ala Michael Bay.