Review - Unbreakable

Rating: 8/10 (9 July 2012)

A year after the hit success of The Sixth Sense, M. Night Shyamalan re-casts Bruce Willis and re-applies his unique film formula for Unbreakable. He succeeds in providing a second demonstration of the very unique suspenseful and emotional dramatic mystery thrillers he had become known for. He sets an excellent balance between supernaturality and the real world while also focusing heavily on character and family dynamics. In several ways, besides the casting of Bruce Willis, the film is very similar to The Sixth Sense – for example, the plot follows a very similar formula with similar types of plot points, and both movies take place in Philadelphia. But the formula is applied to a different genre. Also, Bruce Willis is not the only star. He is starring along with Samuel L. Jackson, whom he also starred with in Die Hard 3.
Bruce Willis is now bald, and his character, David Dunn, a stadium security guard, is not a walking dead person, like Malcolm Crowe in Sixth Sense. David is very much alive, even following a lethal train wreck at the inciting incident near the beginning, in which all the passengers die except for him. What's more, he was completely unbroken not a single scratch, let alone any injuries. Soon after, he finds a note on his windshield asking him a question which really starts him thinking about his seemingly lucky survival, especially after he meets the writer of the note, Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson).
Elijah is a gallery owner who loves, and finds importance in, comic books, especially those about superheroes. He even finds connections between comic book stories and real life, and is a firm believer in it. All his life, Elijah has had a disorder in which his bones are extremely weak, easily breakable, for which he was called "Mr. Glass" by other kids while growing up. He wonders that if he is at one end of the spectrum, where his bones break easily, couldn't there be somebody at the other end of the spectrum, who never gets sick, never gets hurt, is practically unbreakable? This is why he seeks out David, and finally meets him about half an hour into the film, after learning the details of his survival from the train wreck. After this, the story begins to pick up speed and venture more into the concept of the film: superheroes, comic books, and possible unbreakablilty (David). The movie does contain a few elements from comic book stories (but not in written boxes), all mixed with Shyamalan's formula, reality, suspense, and other elements. It's a cool story.
I have to say, I kind of like M. Night Shyamalan's type of films. I don't really love any of his films, but they are worth watching, especially Signs. He has a very unique way of storytelling, and he provides the correct type balance between character, emotion, suspense, reality, supernaturality, and all other aspects. He knows what mysteries to answer or to leave hanging. He knows how to make something or some event believable even though it would never happen in real life (en example in Unbreakable is when David's son, Josepsh, has his father's gun and wants to shoot him – which he doesn't – to prove that he is unbreakable). He knows the best time to reveal little bits of important information, adding to the suspense, and he is great at placing important plot points and symbolic things within seemingly everyday appearance, dialogue, and description.
The concept, which is prying into reality, is not always or totally noticed believed amongst the characters and their families, but it is evident, and it really reflects in their emotions and behaviors. And resolutions are also strong and clearly reflected and evident emotionally in character and family dynamics. Shyamalan is an expert at this. And his formula can probably be used for almost any subject matter, even things in plain real life. I know he's gone downhill lately, especially with Airbender, but he has been successful in the past, and I'm betting he's still got potential now. I think he should really use his potential and get back up to where he was, and that people should stop pounding and avoiding him and just give him a chance, and acknowledgment for his four best films (The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs, and The Village).