An Unforgettable Tale of Self-Discovery

Rating: Null/10 (25 November 2000)

I must say, this movie had one of the greatest ad campaigns I have ever seen. It revealed nothing about the movie, but yet intrigued me enough to make me want to see it. This was probably for the better. If I told a "sophisticated" adult about this movie's plot before they saw it, they would most likely write it off as pure cinematic cheese and not bother with seeing it. That would truly be unfortunate, as Unbreakable is one of the most stunning movies I've seen in a long time.
I will spare a plot summary, except to say that Unbreakable is not what you expect. It is, at its core, a story about finding one's true self. But that isn't all it's about. Also sandwiched inside this theme-heavy movie are many other well known archetypes, such as good vs. evil, and you can't let bad things happen to good people. Even though people will come out of this movie saying, "I've never seen anything like that before," they really have, if they thought about it.
Unbreakable is visually stunning. I can't think a movie that has used photography to convey a mood like this before. Unbreakable even tops Shymalyan's previous hit, The Sixth Sense, in this regard. Every scene was carefully crafted, and you really get the sense that the storyboards were used to their full potential.
Unbreakable shares many similarities to The Sixth Sense, but this is not a bad thing. Shymalyan knows what worked for him in that movie, and has added that in this movie. The changes come in the form of a regression. Unbreakable feels very old-fashioned. There are many similarities that can be found between this movie and old superhero stories. I don't mean Superman, more like Batman and X-Men. Unbreakable has found a way to express very old messages in a new fashion.
I can see where some people would not like Unbreakable. They just got blindsided by a movie that they did not expect. I, however, was pleasantly surprised and recommend this film highly.