Unbreakable

“Do you know what the scariest thing is? To not know your place in this world, to not know why you're here. That's - that's just an awful feeling.”

Filmology Rating: 3 out of 4

In preparation for M. Night Shyamalan's third film, in this newly established cinematic universe, Glass, I will be reviewing the two films that lead into Glass. That being Unbreakable and his latest thriller Split. Essentially what the plot of the film is can be described by Quentin Tarantino as being, "What if Superman was on Earth but didn't know he was Superman." Bruce Willis plays a security guard named David Dunn (some good superhero alliteration) and Samuel L. Jackson portrays Elijah Price also nicknamed Mr. Glass. He is called this because his bones are incredibly brittle and they break very easily. He is obsessed with comic books and he figures that because he is so fragile there must be someone on Earth who is on the opposite side of the spectrum as someone who doesn't break; someone who is... unbreakable. Duh duh DUHHHH!

Right after writing and directing The Sixth Sense, which blew everybody on the face of the Earth away, M. Night writes and directs this film which is a superhero film in disguise. One of the best things that can be said about the film is that it gets better with age and this case, the film came out in 2000 during the second large wave of superhero craze. The first wave being Superman and Batman in the 70s, 80s, and 90s and the second wave being Spider man and X-Men (we are currently living in the third wave). This film offers a realistic depiction of what would happen if the average person discovered they had a superhuman ability.

Now this isn't a gritty and realistic film like the Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy. This is bare bones "what if someone had superhuman strength?" And this film is definitely ahead of its time. If it came out today it would be praised as the Holy Grail in this era of superheroism.

I absolutely love the craft and the writing that the film takes on. There are so many great camera movements that are usually one shot takes which offer creative framing. It is a very slow film, but it is one of the most rewarding film endings. M. Night trusts the audience to be patient and he rewards us with an incredible ending.

Throughout the entire film people are trying to convince David Dunn that he has the ability of being unbreakable but he just doesn't want to accept it and the whole movie is him realizing that he must step into a role of a superhero. Now this does sound really dumb on paper, however, it is the best origin film for a superhero I have ever seen.

Another thing I absolutely love is a total disregard to CGI and special effects. There is not one giant battle sequence where all these people are fighting. Instead, it's a slow moving drama with precision realism with an ending that would be somewhat suitable for the opening to an action/thriller.

I also want to elaborate on how excellent the score for this film is. It is a somber mix of hope and inspiration and is used at sparingly and correct times. The final minute of the film is a little abrupt and leaves you wondering where these characters will go next and it wraps up rather quickly.

However, this is one of the most underrated films of all time and in the age of comic books and Marvel ruling the cinema, this is definitely a film that must be checked out before orgasming over the next Avengers flick.

Rating: See It

-Nolan