Amazing that so few can see the brilliance in this film...

Rating: 10/10 (19 December 2002)

This film is a slow burning candle, yet it burns out of control once it reaches climax and if you actually take in what it offers leaves a refreshing and provoking image in your mind after it finishes. Amazingly well paced, intelligently written and an original take on a genre that rarely is given much thought... superheroes! A much better film than the above average yet overated Sixth Sense, M. Night Shyamalan outdid himself by making Bruce Willis a serious element as opposed to the stereotypical wise cracking oaf he usually plays in every film. Willis was actually ACTING! Sam Jackson was also excellent here, proving once again he is more than up for the task if the right movie comes along and was extremely effective in his side of the yin yang equation. Of course the film takes itself very serious, but why shouldnt it? Far too many films now rely on jokes, cliche archetypes and overdone commercialization so its refreshing to see a film that was based on solid storytelling for those who actually had the aptitude to follow it. It does go a bit too artsy in some scenes (though not as overdone as in the american adaptation of "Ring"), but even so Shy pulls it off without making a mockery of its dignity. Overall a magnificent film, too bad many of the people who see it just either dont understand it or lack the ability to...