A Unique Comic Book Genre Movie

Rating: 8/10 (16 December 2000)

Unbreakable is a difficult movie to review without revealing the plot, and trust me, if you've not seen it you don't want the plot revealed. The plot being a surprise is the key to enjoying this movie. Knowing this, I will not reveal elements to the plot. I hope you rate me with this in mind.
This story involves two men, Samuel Jackson and Bruce Willis. They are opposites. Jackson plays Elijah, whose bones are brittle and even a small fall can cause fractures and breaks. As a child, he lives in fear of going outside. As an adult, he knows there is someone out there who is his opposite in every way. Willis plays David Dunn, a man who has survived one accident and tragedy after another. A man, to Elijah, who appears unbreakable. That's all you should know going into the movie. I'd strongly advise against reading details about the plot.
Unbreakable is getting split reviews. Most people either love it or hate it. This makes perfect sense because of the nature of the movie. If you're a heavy-duty comic book fan, you will probably love this movie. If you care nothing about comics, you could go either way, but I am willing to bet you will consider it a bit boring at times (maybe the whole time). I think this movie relies somewhat on you being in on the "in joke" of comic book super-heroes. For example, Willis' character David Dunn--his initials are "DD". Double initials are a common trait that many older comic book characters exhibit. A few other examples are Matt Murdock (Daredevil), Lois Lane, Lex Luthor, Peter Parker (Spider-Man), and Bruce Banner (The Hulk). Sure, everyone will get the gist of the movie, but comic book fans will get the most out of it.
The buildup is a bit like Sixth Sense, and even more so because Bruce Willis stars in both movies. Even if you didn't know the same guy (M. Night Shyamalan) directed both movies, you could probably see a lot of similarity in the style. The same slow, intentional buildup with the same mind-bending twist at the end. Shyamalan makes a cameo appearance as a drug dealer in the stadium. Watch for him if you haven't seen the movie yet.
Don't let yourself get distracted during this movie. We brought our 2 year old with us, and it was a mistake. This is the type of movie you need to settle in for, relax, and take in every word. Try to figure out what's going on. If you miss important pieces of the dialog, you're doing yourself an injustice.
It's a comic book movie, but unlike anything we've seen so far. Whereas X-Men smashes the genre in your face, Unbreakable taps you lightly on the shoulder and quietly says, "I'm a super-hero movie." It's not obvious until the end, and depending on the viewer, sometimes not even then.
From a comic book lover point of view, I'd rate it 4 out of 5 stars. From a non-comic reader viewpoint, I'd give it 3 or 4. Overall, I'm calling it a 4-star movie because I enjoyed it tremendously.