Review of Unbreakable (2000) by Cameron J — 05 Oct 2013

Somewhere there's a reference to an album by Scorpions... or an album by Backstreet Boys... Dead or Alive, Down to Nothing, Fireflight, MyChildren MyBride and Primal Fear. Huh, come to think of it, this isn't that unique of a title, or at least it isn't by now, because most of the albums I just referenced are pretty weak mostly because they came out after this 2000 film (Curse modern music), which therefore isn't just original because it's a superhero film that hardly has any action at all. Alright, "The Sixth Sense" was a ghost thriller that was just about seeing ghosts, "Signs" was an alien invasion film that was almost entirely about trying to see aliens, and this is a superhero film that's just about some guy getting used to having superpowers, so there was a time where M. Night Shyamalan was the go-to guy if you wanted a thriller that hardly did anything, well, at all, nevermind something thrilling. Hey, at least he did these films reasonably well, with this film being anything but an exception, and yet, I still can't help but feel some disappointment in Bruce Willis' and Samuel L. Jackson's not really duking it out, not necessarily because I wanted to see the ultimate clash between John McClane and, well, Samuel L. Jackson (Do I really have to try and narrow down his awesome characters?), but because "Pulp Fiction" gave me more than enough of Willis and Jackson engaging in conversation much more than combat (There was only one scene in which the two conversed, that's how limited the action was). Oh well, at least this film isn't two-and-a-half hours, unless, of course, you consider it three-and-a-half hours by seeing this as the second part of "The Sixth Sense", in which (Note: If you somehow don't know the twist in "The Sixth Sense", then look for the next parenthetical sentence, because between it and this parenthetical sentence, I'm spoiling that thing good) Dr. Malcolm Crowe comes to tap into his ghostly powers (Okay, you're in the clear). Oh, wow, come to think of it, this film probably has too many similarities to "The Sixth Sense", so much so that it's seriously only a minute shorter, and it only came out a year later, for goodness' sake, so I guess anything slapped with this title really is doomed to be awkwardly familiar. Oh well, this film is still pretty good, though disappointments stretch beyond Willis' and Jackson's not having the ultimate superhero duel (Well, at least Willis won the race to see who loses his hair first).

I'll give the film quite a few point for originality, as this is generally a pretty refreshing superhero film, but that just makes the betrayals of originality all the more glaring, because when conventions fall into place, they really undercut the uniqueness of this drama, and while it's kind of difficult to fully predict the highlights of the final product, there's a lot about this narrative that is fairly predictable. The film says a lot of what has already been said time and again, and yet, worse than that, the film has only so much to say to begin with, because not matter how meaty the film is in enough places to reward, there's something about this film that is too minimalist for its own good, as it is, like I jokingly said earlier, not much more than a slow exploration of someone coming to terms with his possessing superpowers, and therefore has only so much bite to its conflict. Again, the film has only so much to say, yet it still manages to take too much time to say only so much, bloating itself with excess material and footage in an almost desperate-seeming attempt to prolong plotting, which is initially nothing more than simply repetitious, but slowly, but surely, drags its feet along, until it becomes aimless. The film is more focused than plenty of M. Night Shyamalan's talkative thrillers, at least enough so to keep a very good amount of your investment relatively firmly secured, but there's still only so much that you can do in telling a narrative this sparse, with dragging not being the thing to do, due to its limping out pacing, all but stiffened by some kind of a chill in the air. As he did with just about all of his films back during his, if you will, glory days, Shyamalan would take a very meditative approach to storytelling, and in this case, there's enough meat material to soak up for Shyamalan's steady direction to be genuinely effective on the whole, but only so much of it, so once meat thins out, things start to dry out, blanding up, maybe even dulling down as pacing comes to a crawl behind quietness and cold air that only emphasis shortcomings. Granted, strengths are even more stressed, as reflected by the film's ultimately being genuinely rewarding, in spite of the flaws that have meant underwhelmingness for other films by Shyamalan, but the point is that potential is betrayed, at least to some extent, by limitations that were always going to be on paper, and are plentiful enough in execution for the final product to run a great risk of collapse into underwhelmingness. Well, the film, much like Bruce Willis' David Dunn character, doesn't break, taking blow after blow, but ultimately rewarding in the end, even on a visual level.

For the time, this was to be one of your harsher, less colorful superhero flicks, thus, cinematographer Eduardo Serra was employed to deliver on bleak coloring and sparse lighting that are often kind of flat, but just as often ruggedly complimentary to the drama's gritty tone, sort of like James Newton Howard's score, which incorporates more tasteful sensibilities into traditional superhero-esque themes in a subtle fashion that is both lovely and atmospheric. Now, the film isn't quite as artistically outstanding as they say, nor is it really something to write home about on a general standard in the first place, but it is strong, enough so to give you some aesthetic candy and bring in some commendable style to serve as a worthy companion to commendable substance. As I've been saying time and again, there's only so much bite to this subject matter, or at least the somewhat questionable idea of exacting a steady, meditative interpretation of this subject matter, but on the whole, even on paper, there's a lot to engage, because through all of the formulaic plotting is a basic premise that is fairly refreshing, enough so to take on an immediate degree of intrigue that goes fed by an intelligent mythology, as well as by some compelling dramatic layers which go anchored by well-rounded characterization that is itself brought to life by inspired performances. Sure, the performances are only as inspired as the limited acting material will allow them to be, but more-or-less across-the-board the talents who are relied upon a lot in this character drama deliver, whether they be the sometimes show-stealing Robin Wright Penn and Spencer Treat Clark, or the leads, Samuel L. Jackson, - who convinces as a bright, but easily damaged man wanting to flesh out the depths of a man who could better his and others' lives - and Bruce Willis, who also convinces as a seemingly ordinary man who looks into extraordinary aspects of his life and comes to find disturbing depths that he could perhaps put to very good use. As a character drama, this film places a good bit of attention into its performers, who deliver enough to play a key part in keeping things compelling, but aren't as supplementary to the reward value of the final product as you might think, as they go held back by limitations in acting material. Don't get me wrong, the onscreen performances are endearing and all, but it falls on a certain offscreen performance to really secure this shaky drama as rewarding, and it delivers, at least on the whole, because, like I said, when M. Night Shyamalan, as director, runs out of meaty material to soak up with his meditative storytelling, things dull down, yet what undercut other meditative Shyamalan dramas as kind of underwhelming was there simply being relatively little meaty material, and while this hardly super superhero "thriller" is hardly frequent in its conceptual juiciness, it offers plenty of weight for Shyamalan to successfully play up, whether it be thematic weight, or dramatic weight. The intrigue and value that rest on paper open up plenty of opportunity that is not quite as played up as it could have been, but is still played up enough by Shyamalan's heart and intelligence as a storyteller for the final product to compel time and again until it ultimately rewards in a way that is uncommon for superhero films.

In the end, conventions, dragging and atmospheric dry spells behind an almost blandly minimalist story concept come close to, well, "breaking" the reward value of this drama, yet cinematography and score work are lovely, acting is inspired, and the generally refreshing and thoughtfully layered story concept is meaty enough, as well as executed with enough directorial inspiration, for M. Night Shyamalan's "Unbreakable" to stand as a flawed, but ultimately rewarding superhero drama of an offbeat nature.

3/5 - Good.