yeah, it's not bad y'know

Rating: 6/10 (16 May 2003)

signs is m. nights third commercial movie. and a well made movie it is too. the direction has it's own character, be it odd camera angles, visual trickery, or the placings of the actors. m. night is a director first and foremost. which is rare. and as a storyteller, he is original, give him that, but he can be a little over ambitious. the sixth sense was perfect as it was. unbreakable was intriguing but difficult. and signs, is just far fetched.
but, it could have been different. the last 20 minutes are good, but it didn't need to be. i think m. night struggled to better the endings to his other movies. and in the attempt, botched it up. it does hold some nice meaning to it, but the way it was done was over dramatized. and the alien was a bit cack. but the duration of the film is masterful, brilliantly set up, and spooky, creepy, tense and moving. it moves at its own pace, giving us more dialogue than action. but at least it's good dialogue. mel gibson and joaquin pheonix are very very good as brothers, and the kids, mainly abigail breslin, are just adorable. so what could have been a masterpiece, ends up being just above average due to the copout finale. lets hope m.night stops trying to please the audience with a twist ending next time, and just lets the story breathe.