Unnecessary obsession ruins otherwise great film.

Rating: 4/10 (26 November 2000)

I was excited to see this film. I was a great admirer of The Sixth Sense and was enticed by the trailer. However, what I hoped would be another hit for director/writer/producer M. Night Shyamalan was destroyed by unintentional camp provided by someone's obsession with comic books.
Yes, comic books. The film is about comic books. This is NOT a spoiler for it, considering the first two minutes of the film is a brief statistical summary of comic books and their popularity in America. From the start, the story is sickeningly predictable. The only aspect not telegraphed from miles away is the ending, which is a good one, although grossly illogical.Unfortunately, the whole thing is so predictable that even by the time the surprise twist rolls around, the damage has been done.
The acting in Unbreakable is one of the two major redeeming qualities. Bruce Willis gives a great performance as the confused survivor of two major accidents and Samuel L. Jackson is also very good as an obsessed comic book collector.
The other aspect of this film worth noting is the cinematography, which is first-rate. Flashbacks have never looked so good or terrifying.
The bottom line is that if you can get over the sadly campy comic book elements, you will enjoy this movie. One final thing must be noted: this film proves that Shymalan is a very formulaic writer. In other words, if you played The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable at the same time, the same things happen at the same time. It is as if Unbreakable was tacked onto the existing script of The Sixth Sense. Unless you're willing to consider the artistic nature of this film, don't bother. RATING: 4