Unbreakable (2000)

Sticking with the Super Hero theme of my last review, although, this is less a Super Hero Movie and more a Movie of a Super Hero! Following hot off the world wide enormous success of the absolutely brilliant The Sixth Sense, writer, director M. Knight Shyamalan brought us Unbreakable, and in my opinion, arguably his finest picture to date.

I went to see this movie in the cinema on the strength of Sixth Sense and I was blown away. I went on my own, the only way any good movie can be enjoyed in the cinema, something I haven't done now for years, and I sat there and really immersed myself into the film and I cried no less than three times during the picture. So very powerful, yet so gentle and subtle a line M Knight can tread so perfectly. One of the most important things I want from watching a movie is to be emotionally involved and very rarely have I been so passionately touched by a movie as I was by this.

Most of mates can't understand it, most of them laugh, but I will struggle on to try and get people to see and hopefully be as moved by this flick as I was.

It plays as M Knights homage to comics, it is taking the first act of your usual super hero movie and uses that as the structure for the whole movie. David Dunn, An every day man is the unharmed survivor of a horrific train accident. On the strength of this, Elijah Price, a frail and lonely Comic Artwork Store owner believes him to be a super hero and tried to convince him of this. That pretty much out lines the story but with the heart wrenching and beautiful sound track by James Newton Howard feeding its way through your veins and towards your heart, it becomes apparent that this is far from your average super hero movie.

It's dark and subdued tones, it's gentle pacing and realistic approach really make this suspense thriller come drama a unique experience, a genre mix you don't come by often, drama and super hero movies, and it works beautifully.

I found it easy to relate to Bruce Willis's character, David Dunn, feeling a deep void in his life, that he should be doing something but didn't know what and carrying this burden is bringing his family down and tearing it apart, he can't bond with his son, of whom adores him for all that he is anyway, and he is drifting apart from his wife of whom loves him dearly.

We follow David as he investigates his past, at first in denial but then slowly drawn to Elijah's theory that if there can be someone born as fragile and "breakable" as he is, there must be someone at the other end of the spectrum that can't be harmed and is "Unbreakable".

Directed perfectly M Knight Shyamalan puts love and thought into virtually every shot and makes you feel part of the movie. The movie can be found as slow by some but it was clear never set out to be a fast paced action film. Although it does build up to a very gripping and scary climax, which follows on from one of the movies best scenes set in the the train station, where David Dunn goes to start working on his super powers. The Obligatory M Knight twist is superb and thought provoking and ends the movie fantastically.

I can not rave about this under appreciated master piece enough. If you are thinking of watching a movie and pick up M Knights Shyamalan's The Happening, do your self one huge favour, gently put it back down on the shelf and dig out this little gem, you could do a hell of a lot worse.

Unbreakable: "A subtle mix of self discovering drama and thrilling super hero suspense, M Knight Shyamalan's masterpiece" *****