No ordinary movie...we dont have to follow the dots!

Rating: Null/10 (2 August 2002)

I've been thinking and thinking and I have come to the conclusion that this must be the greatest movie seen on the screen in recent times. But you speak to the next person and they'll probably say it doesn't even deserve a mention. This is what Unbreakable has done to us all!

Why cannot it ever get universal praise? Because the movie is subtle. It is not like the usual `lets force the suggestions of the movie down the audience's throat` Hollywood flicks of recent years. The greatest facet to this movie is that everybody gets something different out of it, sees the film's motive of varying different levels. For me, I loved the feeling that the film was self-mocking, having a joke at its own expense and capturing the comic book imagery. The image of `Security Man` just made me laugh inside whilst the movie continued in M Night's fantastic atomospherical progression. Everything about the movie stinks of class; the opening scene of the train journey (camera's POV being in the seats in front, like an inquisitive child) Sam Jackson's turn (which adds to the subtle comedy aspect to this film, he so looks like a Batman arch-enemy character who would be called, `The Glass Man`!) Bruce Willis in his Security `cape`! It all makes on great view!
But many people don't enjoy it. Why? Because we are conditioned to accept movies which have paper thin plots, films which treat you like a three-year old who has to be told what everything means in a film. We are told not to think and interpret scenes for ourselves but to accept what is being shoved towards us. Due to this, many people hate having to try and decipher what is going on, preferring instead to watch a `join the dots` picture where each dot is conveniently numbered to lead us to the next and hey-ho! a shaky picture emerges that looks rubbish and we realise that we haven't contributed anything to it, just the ability to count and join the dots.
There is nothing like that in Unbreakable. You are given great atmosphere, which builds like Sixth Sense, making you feel that a shock is just around the corner. You are allowed to interpret beyond the lines spoken, attempt to second-guess what M Night really wanted this movie to represent. And we'll probably all be far away from the mark, but it's always about what you get of the movie, and if you get a lot like I did from Unbreakable, then your money has been well spent. A quality movie.