Unbreakable: Critic Reviews

Samuel L. Jackson plays a comic-book-art collector named Elijah, as in the prophet, and his stare could probably burn a hole through Superman's Fortress of Solitude.

With Unbreakable , Mr. Shyamalan establishes himself as a distinctive auteur with a very personal style.

Thrill-kill plots, cardboard characters and zap-pow editing are not for Shyamalan, who takes his good, thoughtful time to snare audiences in his dark web.

Interesting premise, but ultimately disappointing.

Sequel talk often sparks because this unconventionally contemplative comic-book film is M. Night Shyamalan's only idea worth continuing -a patient, downbeat and thrillingly unpredictable drama that still stands today as Shyamalan's visionary masterpiece.

Some audiences may find the ending silly, some may not find the ending a big deal, and some will be completely blown away. But you'll just have to watch and find out what the big deal is, won't you?

With all these superlatives, how could Shyamalan so badly misjudge vital elements to the story? The melodramatic elements take away substantially from much of what could otherwise be hailed as a masterpiece.

The characters (especially Willis') are drab and uninteresting, and the story, even allowing for the supernatural overtones, is unconvincing.

The old magic fails to re-materialize, thanks to overwrought melodrama and contrived plot developments.

a little too pretentious but still good

Shyamalan takes us in close, picking up sad and angry whispers; his people almost never raise their voices.

The dialogue has more pauses than a High School production of Samuel Beckett. And while that works up to a point, you find yourself wanting to grab the characters and shake them out of their introspective stupors.

Shyamalan has already established his own personal stamp for his films.

Whereas The Sixth Sense left audiences surprised but surprisingly comfortable, this more mature and ambitious movie preserves its ambiguities and keeps everyone guessing.

Remarkable, dark, and surprising.

Un hommage fulgurant a la bande dessinee dont bon nombre des adaptations qui ont suivi auraient gagne a prendre comme exemple.

Unbreakable is an extraordinarily quiet movie. Impatient audience members will probably give up on the movie early, and they'll miss out.

Shyamalan has a way to go before ascending to the level of Alfred Hitchcock, the uncontested master of psychological suspense, but he clearly wants to do so.

Might have made an interesting episode of the X-Files, but it fails as a full length movie.

When was the last time a big budget Hollywood thriller (with Bruce Willis, no less) came off as understated?

It is filled with interesting choices from behind the camera, giving a sometimes skewed perspective of the world, and meaningful silences in the dialogue, reminiscent of Pinter.

A depressing, definitive case of a film that experiences in its third and final act what one could either call, charitably, a total loss of its convictions, or, less charitably, a total brain aneurysm.

I enjoyed the newer edition much more than last year's model.

...the work of a movie-savvy intelligence who understands exactly what he's doing

An oddly muted comic-book fable that treads a fine line between ridiculous and profound.