More cerebral, yet somehow lacking

Rating: 7/10 (1 August 2001)

I was never especially impressed with The Sixth Sense. The big "surprise" was apparent to me after one or two scenes where I noticed that no one except the child paid any attention to Bruce Willis' character, even when he apparently touched them.
So I viewed Unbreakable with some mild cynicism. A surprise ending, I heard. Oh boy.
I was pleasantly surprised myself to realize as the movie unfolded that this was a thinking person's movie. There is a little action, sure. But the real issues have to do with why the two main characters are who they are. I don't just mean they are the "good guy" and "bad guy," either. Why are they unique, yet only one seems aware of it? Why is the "evil" one so interested in finding the "good" one and showing him his abilities? And what exactly ARE the unique abilities each side has? And is there some cosmic purpose involved?
My wife was frustrated with the movie's slow pace. I wasn't, because it gave me time to sort out what the movie was telling the viewer about the characters and their motivations. The acting is very good. Bruce Willis is much more than a one-note actor, and Samual Jackson is simply a good actor, period.
My one disappointment was, of course, the ending. SPOILERS AHEAD! While I found it hard to believe that a guy would never notice his amazing ability to be invulnerable and stronger than others, or, if he did notice, to essentially hide it from everyone, I was even more skeptical of a bad guy who, I guess, apparently causes random accidents that kill hundreds of people in an attempt to find the hero. OK, do you know how long this could take, and how many people would die? What if the hero was in Nepal? And yet this super smart, clever bad guy just starts his trail of accidents in the US? Is he just nuts? Surely someone would eventually catch him. Besides, if the movie really wanted to make the ending a shocker, it would have tied the evil guy to accidents that have happened in the REAL world, not in the movie. That would have got you thinking.
Still, when all is said and done, I enjoyed the concepts in Unbreakable. I hope if there is a sequel, we see some logical growth here and not simply "surprises" for the sake of surprise. I gave it a 7.