Breaking the Sophomore Jinx

Rating: 7/10 (1 January 2001)

M. Night Shyamalan's "Unbreakable" is a remarkably well constructed second film. Following the success of "The Sixth Sense" he attempts a movie which, in some ways, echoes the first, and also goes a completely different route.

One of the smartest moves comes in the first plate of the movie in which he states the statistics of the vast amounts of comic books sold, read, and written in the world. This, coupled with a very well performed history course by Samuel L. Jackson in which he equates comics with ancient hieroglyphics, lends credence to the story.
David Dunn (Bruce Willis) is an untouchable person. Without spoiling to much of the movie, his charachter is believed to be, by the Jackson character, a modern day superhero. In the hands of another director, this film would have been made into a much more special effects, run of the mill superhero flick. In Shyamalan's hands however, he paces the film in such a way that lends not only credence but also provokes thought. Acting performances that never step wrong and very inventive camera setups make this film extraordinarily beautiful and engaging.
Some have said that the ending of the movie cheats, allowing for a tidy wrap up of the plot. I believe, however that the ending puts the final cap on the characterization of the roles of the superhero and villain, which, in retrospect, is what the movie is about anyway.
While watching this film, I was struck by the thought that, in the first two films of M. Night Shyamalan, he seems to be lending a new ear and a new aspect of the psychological horror movie, realizing that the slasher film is over done. There was another great director that realized the horror of the mind was scarier than the horror of the eye. His name was Alfred Hitchcock.