What is a hero?

Rating: 8/10 (22 February 2008)

After the enormous success of iconic thriller The Sixth Sense, one would hardly be surprised to see director M. Night Shyamalan attempting to recapture the elements which made his call to fame such a success, delivering yet another chilling psychological thriller with a requisite twist ending in the mould of its predecessor. With that in mind, one has to give Shyamalan all the more credit for resisting such a temptation and making Unbreakable, which one could hardly call a conventional follow-up. While the film could similarly be described as a psychological thriller, it is less about its twist (though there is one), and more about journeying alongside the intricately crafted characters, watching the immaculate plot unfold, and reveling in the director's convoluted cunning.
Allaying any potential fears of his former mastery waning, Shyamalan has lost one of his trademark storytelling skill. The film's pacing is excellent - slow and thoughtful, yet consistently tense and engaging enough to prevent lagging. Shyamalan's script proves deceptively simple, but with enough underlying layers of meaning that it may take until the film's culmination for all the immaculately crafted intricacies to sink in. The only real complaints which emerge involve an ending which comes across as slightly jarring and abrupt, and certain lapses in credulity and logic, despite the film's lucrative content. Similarly, with such a quality film, one wishes Shyamalan could have pushed the envelope more and further explored his fascinating themes and characters in more depth, but such complaints pale in the face of such an astutely quality overall work. With a superb use of colours and innovative cinematography, Shyamalan perfectly captures his subject matter with an exceptional, moody comic book style look, sealing the film's firm overall sense of quality.
Resisting the temptation to turn his subject matter into a run of the mill thriller, Shyamalan instead crafts a reflective meditation on the nature and origins of heroism, and its essential importance in society. Demonstrating clear knowledge and reverence for the field of comic books, Shyamalan draws out unprecedented layers of meaning from an art form generally associated with banal childhood stories by the general public. Using the archetypal comic book structure as allegorical for humanity, and its romanticized desire for exceptional powers and abilities, Shyamalan makes a reverence for comics seem mature, inspirational, and commendable - no easy feat indeed.
Shyamalan's cast easily lives up to the staunch quality of the rest of his film, delivering understated yet powerful performances. A subdued Bruce Willis proves tremendously effective as David Dunn, the sole survivor of a terrible accident increasingly drawn into a world of uncertainty and bewilderment, and Willis' easy charisma makes for an engaging but still poignant performance. Samuel L. Jackson is an eerie and haunting presence as a bone- diseased comic book obsessee, bringing effortless class and credibility to a part which would have been hard to sell with a lesser actor. Robin Wright Penn delivers quality support, bringing to life the human component of the film as Dunn's struggling wife. Similarly, Spencer Treat Clarke defies the conventions of his age group, resulting in a surprisingly powerful and heartfelt performance as Dunn's idealistic son.
While the film may have been somewhat misrepresented as a "thriller" as opposed to a more thoughtful introspective examination of deeper underlying themes, Shyamalan's second effort proves an unconventional but tremendously powerful follow-up to The Sixth Sense. With a careful, deliberately paced script and a sturdy cast to back the material up, Unbreakable is quality storytelling at its finest, while still providing the viewer with a new appreciation for comic books and copious amounts of food for thought. Shyamalan has crafted his film with the utmost of care, and the dark beauty of Unbreakable will stick with the viewer for quite some time, intriguing and entertaining hand in hand.
-8/10