Unbreakable

 

 

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Unbreakable is about the mythology behind comic book superheroes and the purposes that each of us have in life. The film opens with the birth of a baby boy with all four of his limbs broken. He is Elijah Price, who is played by Samuel L. Jackson, and he has type I OI or brittle bone disease. As his life goes on, he gets the nickname of "Mr. Glass" as up the point of present time in Unbreakable, Elijah had broken bones in his body 57 times. Elijah is motivated early on to socialize in some capacity by his mother and his primary interest becomes comic books. As he gets older he soon begins to question what the reason is for his own existence and comes to the conclusion that if people like him exist with his weakness, then surely there must be someone on the other end of the spectrum with massive strengths. Elijah believes there is nothing scarier than to live life without knowing your purpose and he makes the assertion that there are in fact real-life superheroes.

Bruce Willis plays David Dunn, a security officer, who, unlike Elijah, is trying to find his own purpose in life. He gave up his football career for his wife but now his marriage is falling apart. David survives a train wreck that kills 131 people, and he is the only survivor. He was completely unharmed. Elijah believes David to be a real superhero and gradually confronts David with his theory. David's son Joseph believes Elijah and assists David in finding out more about his potential powers. Just to add, I'm of the opinion that it is an absolute pleasure to watch Willis and Jackson act in pretty much anything.

As with any M. Night Shyamalan film, giving too much away is hugely detrimental to the experience and please know that this film is entirely worth going into with no more information then I have already provided. What Shyamalan has done here in retrospect, while considering the recent onslaught of big-budget comic book movies, is create a completely unconventional yet convincing adaptation of comic book heroes' origins. At the same time Unbreakable celebrates the mythology behind these fictional characters. It takes a profound imagination to come up with a screenplay that gives this concept the treatment that Shyamalan has. It is the kind of concept that might have taken almost a lifetime of brainstorming.

A friend of mine once said that the Sixth Sense was a gigantic and nearly perfect movie for absolutely everyone, while as a comic book fan Unbreakable was tailored made perfectly for him. Though I'm half the comic book fan he is, I concur with that assessment enough to confidently invoke it hear. If you truly love comic books, Unbreakable is your film. If you are not a lover of comic books, then try to walk into this film expecting little action and you shouldn't be disappointed.

It can be argued that Shyamalan has lost his way in recent years, although he does retain his technical prowess even now. Nevertheless, Unbreakable is still a joy to watch and is a shining example of Shyamalan during his most inspired and generative phase.

A security guard named David Dunn (Bruce Willis) is caught in a devastating train wreck and comes out the only survivor -- without even a scratch or bruise. Soon after, he is approached by a man named Elijah (Samuel L. Jackson), a comic book enthusiast who owns a gallery of original comic art. Elijah suffers from a rare condition that makes his bones extremely brittle. He has a theory that comic book stories are echoes of real life, and gradually becomes convinced that David is his polar opposite, the real world's version of a superhero.

It's actually a fascinating premise, but it is executed so poorly that it's never made remotely plausible. This is a flaw of the script, as well as the story itself which throws us coincidence after coincidence while leaving just as many plot holes in its wake. For example, David develops further "powers" solely to move the story in the direction Shyamalan wishes it to go. It is things like this that end up betraying it.

As with THE SIXTH SENSE, it is a final twist that nearly saves the movie, yet the impact here is lessened by a clumsy attempt to make the ending more palatable. While UNBREAKABLE isn't the colossal bore Shyamalan's previous film was, it is an intriguing concept wasted.

M. Night's idea was fine; it's the execution that was flawed, despite some great performances. Too much going on, too much left unsaid, a disjointed plot and slow-moving. I mean, you "get" the idea once it's out there, but it seems like things just keep going in circles instead of progressing in many places.
A number of things are unexplained. This could've been SO much more of a film....

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4.0 out of 5 stars Wicked good!
When this first came out, I had to watch it over again. I'm not a crazy comic book fan, but I loved it! These are two of my fave actors which made it even better. Read more

Published 15 months ago by S. H.

4.0 out of 5 stars Unbroken
Hit show "Heroes" became a big hit with the premise "what if ordinary people found that they had superpowers?" B

ut they weren't the first to use that -- M. Read more

Published on Jan 12 2008 by E. A Solinas

2.0 out of 5 stars A better title would have been Shyamalan: Unbearable
Ah yes, here we have another example of the "genius" of M. Night Shyamalan, the writer/director with the uncanny ability to take a silly, fantastical story and transform it into a... Read more

Published on May 16 2007 by Daniel Jolley

4.0 out of 5 stars Unbroken
Currently hit show "Heroes" is riding high with the premise "what if ordinary people found that they had superpowers?" But they weren't the first to use that -- M. Read more

Published on April 22 2007 by E. A Solinas

1.0 out of 5 stars Unbreakable aka Unbearable
BOOORRRRRRINNNNNNNG. It irritates me how shaymalan has to do a cameo in his own movies.

Published on Sep 14 2004

2.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Premise But
It's just too slow and lugubrious. All the scenes are dark and depressing. I felt like asking someone to turn on the lights! Read more

Published on July 16 2004 by Melissa McCauley

5.0 out of 5 stars What happened?
Sadly, this movie was not a box office smash. And that, my friends, I just cannot figure out.

This movie is outstanding. Pure and simple. Read more

Published on July 7 2004 by R. Whitelaw

4.0 out of 5 stars GREAT MOVIE
I agree that this could've been much better but it is still a great movie overall. This movie was written, produced, and directed by M. Read more

Published on July 2 2004 by MMAfan

4.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as Sixth Sense . . .
Why? Cos you immediately compare the two! I've seen Sixth Sense a few times before this, and I knew there was going to be a twist to the film, just like Sixth Sense. Read more

Published on Jun 10 2004 by Meesha

4.0 out of 5 stars Doesn't resist comparison with "Sixth Sense"
This is a quite good film which I am not sure of giving it 3 or 4 stars. It's quite simple.

The film itself is good (so it deserves 4 stars) but the comparison with "Sixth... Read more

Published on Jun 7 2004 by derrotista

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