Unique take on the 'superhero' mythos

Rating: 5/10 (22 January 2005)

UNBREAKABLE
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1 (Panavision)
Sound formats: Dolby Digital Surround EX / DTS-ES / SDDS
After surviving a horrific train crash in which every other passenger died, an unassuming security guard (Bruce Willis) is contacted by a man with a rare bone disease (Samuel L. Jackson), who believes Willis is gifted with superhuman powers, like a character from a comic book...
Hoping for lightning to strike twice after the unexpected commercial success of his determinedly uncommercial breakout feature THE SIXTH SENSE (1999), M. Night Shyamalan wrote and directed this stylistically similar movie, setting a pattern that might well define his entire career. With its measured pace and gradual accumulation of narrative details, UNBREAKABLE posits Willis as an ordinary man whose life is transformed by an experience which opens his eyes to a whole new way of thinking, courtesy of Jackson's guru-like figure, a broken man who views Willis as his exact opposite, a literal superhero, though quite unlike the 'comic book' supermen which Jackson covets so much (he runs an art gallery dedicated to the work of great comic book artists). In fact, Willis and Jackson are the whole show here, and they both command attention in very different roles, playing characters who inspire change in one another, for better AND worse. However, Willis' first act as a bona fide 'superhero' - a compelling sequence in which he confronts a very modern 'supervillain', far removed from the juvenilia of most comic book baddies - reveals the dark side of his newfound powers, which are as much a curse as a blessing. The director even manages a genuinely traumatic 'twist' - less predictable than the one in THE SIXTH SENSE - which has a devastating effect on the major players. With Willis' career in the doldrums at the time of the film's release, UNBREAKABLE didn't have quite the same cultural impact as Shyamalan's previous effort, but it works a similar kind of visual magic. Not for all tastes, though its rewards are legion.