Review of Signs (2002) by Hannah Rose C — 08 Jul 2012

I really can't understand why critics (or anyone) liked this movie. There were a couple of good lines, a few worthwhile moments (I really liked when the monsters were just fleeting images in the background or unknown sounds; I liked the daughter and her weird but innocent and perhaps unconscious precognition). But at the end of the day, I think it's telling when 10 years later when people look back on this film what they remember best are how freakin' stupid the ending was. WATER?! Really?! The aliens were defeated by WATER?! Around 70% of the Earth is water! AND IT FALLS FROM THE SKY!

When the aliens in HG Well's "War of the Worlds" were beaten by bacteria (oh yeah, 114-year-old spoiler alert, sorry about that) it made sense, both metaphorically (the invasion representing colonialism, which spread all kinds of horrible plagues around the world -- from syphilis to small pox) and the plot (the aliens could have easily overlooked the threat of bacteria, after all they are microscopic, humanity seems to live with them without a problem, and, most importantly, the aliens could not have predicted the threat since they didn't have any exposure to bacteria/any idea these microbes even existed.

This is where "Signs" fails. Sure, you could argue the "fate" thing makes spiritual/thematic sense but within the plot it's insane. The aliens in this movie *knew* they could be burned by water, after all they chose not to land near it. Even if that was a fluke less than an hour into the invasion at least one of them would have encountered it in some form or another (thanks to our abundance of lakes, rivers, sprinkler systems, puddles, sewers, sinks, fountains, plumbing of any kind, etc.). Why did they come au naturel? You could argue that it's hubris on their part, but Achilles didn't go into battle kick-boxing. The most important thing in a movie centered around aliens (especially one taking place on Earth) is a sense of helplessness. The aliens should be stronger and smarter than humans, we should be outgunned at the very least. I have a hard time viewing the aliens from "Signs" as a threat (the design doesn't help, especially not when viewed in full-light getting waled on with a wooden baseball bat).

Anyway, many people who liked the movie *then* have retracted their opinions *now*. That could be a hind-sight thing, what with the messes both Gibson and Shymalan have gotten into since then (and it does make Gibson harder to like and highlight any and all mistakes Shymalan made) but, forgive me for sounding like a pretentious Hipster, I didn't like it before everyone else.