The Sux Sense

Rating: 7/10 (11 June 2003)

David Dunn (Bruce Willis) is the only survivor in a horrific train trash. Remarkably he doesn't break a bone, or even have a scratch on him. On the other end of the scale is Elijah Prince (Samuel L. Jackson), whose bones are as brittle as glass. Elijah thinks the two have a special bond, total opposites. David thinks not. But upon thinking about the situation, and having some revelations, David starts thinking that Elshia might be right. But is he just falling into a trap or does he really have remarkable powers, the gift of being 'unbreakable'?
I am a huge fan of M. Night Shyamalan's "The Sixth Sense", so I was always very interested in seeing "Unbreakable".
While I enjoyed most of the film, I ultimately left the film with a huge feeling of disappointment.
There are several scenes that are just totally contrived, such as the 'kid with gun' scene. How that cut made it into the final edit, I have no idea! And the weight-lifting scene just goes on and on. And a few plot hole/inconsistencies really played on my mind. When I first heard about the plot I thought it sounded really interesting. But while watching the film the premise ran around my mind, and I started getting really bothered by it.
Setting that aside, the film offers some intrigue. And the beginning is quite interesting. However the film is really let down by the end. We have to endure a really long, quite pointless scene. And then the twist! The 'Sixth Sense' this ain't. While it is slightly creepy, it was kind of predictable and ultimately unsatisfying. While looking back at it, it seems rather ridiculous.
*** SPOILER ALERT ***

And what is with ripping off "The Dead Zone"? If his bones are unbreakable fine, but what is up with touching people and seeing things. That whole story-line seemed very under-written and got quite boring. If this premise was talked about earlier, than that would have been OK (if a little unbelievable). But to spring this on us so late. Thats not good.
*** END OF SPOILER ***
Bruce Willis comes across as not very good. Though Samuel L. Jackson is as good as ever. The supporting cast don't provide sterling performances, though nothing really bad.
There are some nice looking scenes. My favorite being the comic book store (not Elisha's "Limited Edition"), very dark and stylish. And the photography is quite nice. The music score, however, is forgettable.
This isn't a really bad film, just very disappointing. A lot of the good scenes are stained by the poor ones. If it was the only thing on television on a rainy Saturday afternoon I would probably give it another outing. But I certainly won't be going out of my way to see it again.
7/10