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How
do you follow a movie smash like The Sixth Sense ?
It's a bit like the pop group trying to better their best
selling debut album. Nine times out of ten you'll fail
and the likelihood is Unbreakable will never quite
repeat director Shyamalan's first feature outing.
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| Alright
then we won't talk to each other |
Like
the pop industry, Shyamalan attempts to stick to a winning
formula. Many of the features of this film are similar
to his first, not least the twist in the tale at the end.
But that doesn't make Unbreakable bad.
It's
moody, a real slow pot-boiler in which the two central
characters, Willis and Jackson, search to discover why
they've been put on earth.
Willis
plays college security guard David Dunn who's marriage
is on the verge of collapse. That's why he's been to New
York for a job and why he finds himself on an express
train which crashes, killing everyone on board except
himself.
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| Hey,
it's Christmas, I should be in a Die Hard movie |
That
alerts comic-book collector Elijah Price (Jackson). Since
birth he's suffered from a rare disease which causes his
bones to fracture with the slightest knock. He was nicknamed
Mr. Glass.
Price
believes that since he is so fragile there must be someone
at the other end of the spectrum, someone who is unbreakable.
He's
been studying disasters for several years, looking for
his very own superhero. When David Dunn survives the train
crash, Price makes contact and an uneasy friendship develops.
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| I
don't care who you are. No ticket, no S Club 7 gig
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Shyamalan
uses the camera to convey the central characters journey
of self-discovery. From the moment we see David Dunn on
the ill-fated train the camera pans constantly from left
to right and back again.
He's
also a fan of upside down shots, reinforcing the idea
of looking at the world from a different perspective.
There's
little new in these devices but together (with the exception
of a slack period two-thirds through the movie when it
seems to be running out of steam) they help build a tension
is sustained to the final credits.
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