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UNBREAKABLE
Film review

Superhero films have never really been too successful in the past, with the obvious exceptions of superman, batman and recently the x-men. But even then, serious fans of these titles could always find faults that would suppress them from truly enjoying the film.

M. Night Shyamalan seems to have noticed this problem with superhero films and decided to make his own. Not only that but he's also recognised that underneath the costumes, fighting and super-powers can lie gripping, epic stories that can appeal to a variety of people.

The film begins with David Dunn [Bruce Willis] being discovered as the only survivor in a train derailment that killed every other passenger. Not only did he survive but he didn't even get so much as a scratch. He is soon contacted by Elijah Price [Samuel L. Jackson] who proceeds to inform him that he suspects David has super-human powers, in that he cannot be harmed. Elijah himself is a comic book collector who has brittle-bone disease and strongly believes that if he is at one end of the scale in terms of fragility, then why shouldn't there be someone out there at the other end?

Obviously not believing Elijah, David goes through the motions of denial, but he can't help but suspect that Elijah is right. Other problems thrown into the mix are the breakdown of David's marriage, with his wife sleeping downstairs on the sofa bed, and also his son's belief that Elijah is right about his dad. This comes to a dramatic climax when his son wants to shoot him in the kitchen to prove it.

Now the story itself may seem a little clichéd: regular guy has super-powers but doesn't know it, strange guy tells him he has, regular guy refuses to believe etc., but it's all handled very well. We don't see any overly dramatic scenes of denial from David that would grace most made for T.V. movies.

The movie itself carries a great slow pace, which is more akin to Japanese manga comics in terms of time for character building and letting the story unfold, as opposed to western 30-page action. And the climax of the movie, when David tackles his first bad-guy, is an extremely uplifting moment, mostly due to the music and single camera viewpoint, when we realise that even though a 'superhero', he is after all still a man.

Just like Shyamalan's previous film, 'The Sixth Sense', 'Unbreakable' carries a cunning twist at the end. It is also shot in the same dowdy colours, giving it a unique look that separates it from the bright primary colours of most comic book movies like 'Batman & Robin'. This may be a superhero film, but it's shot as a film, not a comic book on film.

'Unbreakable' is by far a better film than 'The Sixth Sense'. It could be seen as fairly minimalist, involving only a few characters and an eerie 'Sunday-morning' ambience that removes distractions and makes you concentrate and listen to the script. Also, it's refreshing to see comic book culture and collection handled in a mature and respectful way, addressing the media as a serious history-depicting art form to be appreciated and not mocked as most tend to. A fantastic film with a clever, intriguing script that may hopefully kick-start the comic industry once more.

9/10


david twomey

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