The Seventh Sense

Rating: 8/10 (25 November 2000)

SPOILERS are contained in the following:
The script was much weaker than the directing .
The story fell apart in many places - and the payoff just didn't matter, and the heavyhandedness of the exposition added to the feeling that the payoff wasn't worth it; what mattered was seeing the superhero come to terms with his gifts.
The main issue is that the superhero's most valuable superpower isn't his being unbreakable, it's his own Extra Sense: he sees guilty people. This huge additional power actually ruins the entire premise of the film - which is that the evil genius is selecting for his opposite by creating situations where an unbreakable human emerges. Nothing in the selection process would also select for someone with the superhero's additional ability.
For me, this really destroys the film... which is a shame, since the second power is unnecessary for the story. Why does this comic book character also need an extra sense? Why not just have him be unbreakable, like many super-strong super heros? (the Hulk, the Thing... etc)
But having said that, it was fun to watch... my favorite scenes were the funny ones, which in all cases involved the kid... best line: "I'll only shoot him once."
But too bad. Night had a pretty good second idea - he just is still so fixated on his previous themes, that he couldn't let them go, and just let this movie do what *this* movie needed to do.
Finally, did everyone notice the number of "repeat" scenes and themes from the Sixth Sense - which get done differently here? This really is a riff on the previous film. You have the kitchen scene with the kid - you go from the terrible fear of the Sixth Sense, to the wonder and elation of Unbreakable. You have the disaffected wife dynamic - in the Sixth Sense there was no way back, here the relationship is unbreakable. You have the sad man finding his true purpose, through the child. You have the scenes in the basement, where a lot of the homework is done in that discovery. You have a flashback to a different child, who was very fragile, which started the whole ball rolling.
Don't get me wrong - it was fun too watch. But too bad
the plot of Unbreakable was so porous.