Not the best, but better than most.

Rating: 7/10 (26 August 2001)

Perhaps one has to have a long-standing love of comic books to truly appreciate this film, but it sure doesn't hurt.
And, no, it's not "The Sixth Sense." Is "The Old Man and the Sea" like "For Whom the Bell Tolls?" I think not.
Anyway...
Only two things that bothered me about this movie: Jackson's hair and Willis whispering 75% of his lines. Willis did that in "The Sixth Sense" and it drove me up the f****** wall.
Not to give too much away, but the entire "rescue" section was grand, everything about it, really. 15 minutes of beautiful camera work, all of 4 words of dialogue, and the empowerment that we all dream of (and I love the "costume." Reminds me of Hal Jordan as "The Spectre").
I've met a lot of people that complain about the ending, but frankly that seemed to me to be the best part of it all; from the time Willis puts on that rain slicker to the rolling credits, the film finally starts moving, and all the pieces fall into place.
Very slightly reminiscent of such comics as "The Watchman" (where was Alan Moore in the documentary? Gibbons showed up, but not Moore, though there was Frank Miller, and I loves me some "Sin City"), "The Spirit," and "Batman" (normal men become superheroes).
An interesting movie, and definitely one of the better movies to come out in recent years (not the best, frankly, but it doesn't suck), plagued only by M. Night's incredibly slow pacing. Granted, it lends to the effect he's trying to create, but too often one's too bored.