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4.0étoiles sur 5
Unbroken, Janv. 12 2008
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. Night Shyamalan tackled in in "Unbreakable," an intensely geeky, eerie thriller about a man who discovers that he is a superhuman. It's full of solid acting and writing, but has a big fat letdown of an ending.
A train derails, killing everyone on board -- except everyman David Dunn (Bruce Willis), who survives without a scratch. As he tries to deal with this, he is contacted by crippled comic book dealer Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson), whose "glass" bones made him speculate: what if there were people at the opposite end of the spectrum -- real superheroes with great strength and powers, REAL "men of steel"?
Realizing that he has never been sick or endangered (except when exposed to water), David begins to explore his newly-discovered strength and second sight, despite the harm it does to his fragile marriage, even saving others from criminals. But there's a sinister side to his discovery and the accident that caused him to explore his powers...
"Superhero movie" usually makes you think of loads of colourful action and young hunky heroes. But Shyamalan takes the opposite approach -- a middle-aged Everyman hero with wife and kid, and the movie is cloaked in shadowy camerawork, not much action at all and eerie, overquiet dialogue. Still it's very geeky, and very intelligent.
Instead of action, "Unbreakable" devotes itself to the mythic qualities of superheroes, and David's slow awakening to his own abilities. Rather than his usual suspense, Shyamalan uses atmosphere to keep the plot captivating, giving it the feeling of a creepy intense dream. And since every superhero has to fight the baddies, he weaves in some tightly-choreographed, grimy fight sequences as David finally makes use of his superstrength.
So what's the problem? Quite simply, the ending is a huge letdown -- while rationally it makes sense, David's actions at the climax leave you feeling, "That's it? That's all the 'unbreakable man' is going to do? What the?" And somehow it feels odd that a "supervillain" wouldn't really have any superabilities (or compensation for them) himself. Slight stumble there.
Bruce Willis gives an excellent, understated performance as David, who longs for an indefinable something in his life, and slowly grows to realize that he is "unbreakable." Nice ordinary guy who turns out to be very extraordinary. But Jackson is even better as Elijah Price -- intense, passionate, and somewhat detached from the real world. His powerful personality balances out his frail body.
Shyamalan goes into comic-book geek mode in in "Unbreakable," a slow-moving, suspenseful movie about a hero's awakening... that only stumbles in the final scenes.
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4.0étoiles sur 5
For Real Comic Book Fans, Juil 5 2007
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.
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4.0étoiles sur 5
Unbroken, Avril 22 2007
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. Night Shyamalan tackled in in "Unbreakable," an eerie thriller full of solid acting and writing, but a big fat letdown of an ending.
A train derails, killing everyone on board -- except everyman David Dunn (Bruce Willis), who survives without a scratch. As he tries to deal with this, he is contacted by crippled comic book dealer Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson), whose "glass" bones made him speculate: what if there were people at the opposite end of the spectrum -- real superheroes with great strength and powers, REAL "men of steel"?
Realizing that he has never been sick or endangered (except when exposed to water), David begins to explore his newly-discovered strength and second sight, despite the harm it does to his fragile marriage, even saving others from criminals. But there's a sinister side to his discovery and the accident that caused him to explore his powers...
"Superhero movie" usually makes you think of loads of colourful action and young hunky heroes. But Shyamalan takes the opposite approach -- a middle-aged Everyman hero with wife and kid, and the movie is cloaked in shadowy camerawork, not much action at all and eerie, overquiet dialogue. Still it's very geeky, and very intelligent.
Instead of action, "Unbreakable" devotes itself to the mythic qualities of superheroes, and David's slow awakening to his own abilities. Rather than his usual suspense, Shyamalan uses atmosphere to keep the plot captivating, giving it the feeling of a creepy intense dream. And since every superhero has to fight the baddies, he weaves in some tightly-choreographed, grimy fight sequences as David finally makes use of his superstrength.
So what's the problem? Quite simply, the ending is a huge letdown -- while rationally it makes sense, David's actions at the climax leave you feeling, "That's it? That's all the 'unbreakable man' is going to do?" And somehow it feels odd that a "supervillain" wouldn't really have any superabilities (or compensation for them) himself.
Bruce Willis gives an excellent, understated performance as David, who longs for an indefinable something in his life, and slowly grows to realize that he is "unbreakable." But Jackson is even better as Elijah Price -- intense, passionate, and somewhat detached from the real world. His powerful personality balances out his frail body.
Shyamalan goes into comic-book geek mode in in "Unbreakable," a slow-moving, suspenseful movie about a hero's awakening... that only stumbles in the final scenes.
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