Why Should I Care?

Rating: 4/10 (24 July 2002)

***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** I had been looking forward to seeing this movie- in my opinion, nothing has warranted much hype this year since "Spider-man". I attended a screening already disappointed by one fact I had been warned about (if your interested, I'll put it at the end with a spoiler warning), but still slightly optimistic.
I left "Signs" feeling very glad that I hadn't paid the $10 for it. I have never cared before, but found myself very concerned that the character development was horrible! Why did I care about these people? Just because they lost their matriarch in a horrible (and completely non-logical) way? That just couldn't cut it for me... I was glad to see Mel Gibson playing a role where he acts his age rather than trying to act forever the "hunk", but the rest of the characters were totally shallow.
***POTENTIAL SPOILERS***
My original disappointment before I even came to the theater? I knew that aliens would be seen. I'm a firm believer in leaving scary things up to the imagination, and hence yielding more scared movie-goers. On the other hand, the first time you see an alien (via a children's birthday party home video on the news), it seems believable. The "home video" quality seems accurate, and the fear in the people filming seems genuine.
But after the film you leave with few answers to many questions... How does Shyamalan's character figure out the water thing so easily? Why so much build-up with Bo's water obsession? What the heck did that alien do to Morgan? Perhaps the least believable: "Father, we decided since your wife is pretty much severed in half by a truck that we'd just leave her there until you got here, so you can watch her die!" Actually, I lie... The most unbelievable part is that a former reverend who no longer believes in his God after watching his wife die, would suddenly believe again after surviving an alien invasion!
***END SPOILERS***
BOTTOM LINE: If you can see this for free, do it. If you're easily scared by sudden noises during a pause or the idea of aliens, then you'll probably enjoy this a lot more than I did.