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With his last two films, Unbreakable and
The Sixth Sense,
M. Night Shyamalan has established himself as probably the hottest young
writer/director in Hollywood, whilst earning a reputation for crafting
intelligent, slow-burning thrillers with a sting in the tail. This means,
possibly unfairly, that Signs arrives with certain baggage and expectations
that it struggles to meet. The fact remains though that, taken purely on
its own merits, it is still unsatisfactory.
No time at all is wasted in setting up the events of the film, as
Pennsylvania farmer Graham Hess wakes up one morning to find huge areas of
his fields have been flattened into geometric shapes by means unknown. We
learn he is a former reverend who left the church after the death of his
wife, and who is now raising his son and daughter with the help of his
younger brother Merrill, a former baseball star.
During the next couple of days, more strange occurrences make the family
suspect all is not right: their dogs bark constantly and behave more
aggressively; young daughter Bo states matter of factly there's a monster
outside her room; mysterious noises are heard outside the house. Graham
suspects it's all a prank by some neighbours with whom he's had some
trouble before, but when every television station begins broadcasting
pictures of crop circles similar to their own from locations all around the
world, it becomes clear something is happening on a far larger scale. Is it
all a big hoax? Is it aliens? Is it all just a marketing ploy by a cola
company?
As I said, it's not for me to say. If you've read much about Signs though,
you may well already know the source of the mystery and it's here that the
film begins to unravel. For most of its running time it plays as a creepy
and efficient thriller, with some genuinely scary and tense scenes, as
well as some surprisingly funny ones. All the actors do well and we care
about the family and their situation. When the time comes for Shyamalan to
reveal his cards however, we discover he isn't holding any aces and the
entire film simply deflates and crawls into the corner. It's an interesting
concept to focus on one family's crisis in the midst of a global event, but
not an event of this nature, and certainly not merely for the purpose of
reaching the conclusion that is reached here.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
