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2002: Signs
M. Night Shyamalan's phenomenal masterpiece tops 2002, but had some heavy competition. To start off with, Star Wars Episode II: The Attack Of The Clones was released and remains the weakest of the Star Wars series, but still is a fun, entertaining film which stands tall. Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers was also released and is also the weakest of it's trilogy, but is a breath-taking acheivement. Other films released that I liked were Gangs Of New York, Rabbit Proof Fence, Spiderman, Road To Perdition, Red Dragon, The Bourne Identity, Insomnia & Ice Age.
Graham Hess (Mel Gibson) is a widowed ex-minister who has lost his faith and is now a farmer raising his two kids with the help of his brother Merril (Joaquin Phoenix). One day, Graham discovers his farm is plagued by crop circles. Soon, these circles and other strange happenings start happening all over the world. Aliens begin to invade, while all Graham is concerned with is protecting his family.
Shyamalan, having already re-defined ghosts and the Superman story, makes a welcome effort towards UFO's, faith, fate and the universe. Like he did with The Sixth Sense & Unbreakable, the film establishes it's main character as a person struggling with a life changing experience. As Graham Hess, Mel Gibson gives an admirable, restrained performance as a man with emotion and hate who still can't come to terms with his wife's death. The rest of the cast works well, even Shyamalan in a cameo as Ray Reddy, a veternarian responsible for Hess' wife's death. M. Night's direction keeps things tense and eerie, filled with shocking and scary moments, mosty notably the newscast with "disturbing footage". But the most brilliant part about this film is it's ending. Unlike other Shyamalan films, Signs doesn't have a twist ending, more of a suprise ending that fits all the pieces together, baffles you beyond belief and becomes even more clever than the ending than The Sixth Sense or Unbreakable.
Signs is Shyamalan's best work and the best entry in the trilogy of films he did before his films started becoming full of twists and downright stupid. Along with the aforementioned Sixth Sense & Unbreakable, it makes a brilliant triple feature from an extraordinary film-maker who changed films forever.
M. Night Shyamalan's phenomenal masterpiece tops 2002, but had some heavy competition. To start off with, Star Wars Episode II: The Attack Of The Clones was released and remains the weakest of the Star Wars series, but still is a fun, entertaining film which stands tall. Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers was also released and is also the weakest of it's trilogy, but is a breath-taking acheivement. Other films released that I liked were Gangs Of New York, Rabbit Proof Fence, Spiderman, Road To Perdition, Red Dragon, The Bourne Identity, Insomnia & Ice Age.
Graham Hess (Mel Gibson) is a widowed ex-minister who has lost his faith and is now a farmer raising his two kids with the help of his brother Merril (Joaquin Phoenix). One day, Graham discovers his farm is plagued by crop circles. Soon, these circles and other strange happenings start happening all over the world. Aliens begin to invade, while all Graham is concerned with is protecting his family.
Shyamalan, having already re-defined ghosts and the Superman story, makes a welcome effort towards UFO's, faith, fate and the universe. Like he did with The Sixth Sense & Unbreakable, the film establishes it's main character as a person struggling with a life changing experience. As Graham Hess, Mel Gibson gives an admirable, restrained performance as a man with emotion and hate who still can't come to terms with his wife's death. The rest of the cast works well, even Shyamalan in a cameo as Ray Reddy, a veternarian responsible for Hess' wife's death. M. Night's direction keeps things tense and eerie, filled with shocking and scary moments, mosty notably the newscast with "disturbing footage". But the most brilliant part about this film is it's ending. Unlike other Shyamalan films, Signs doesn't have a twist ending, more of a suprise ending that fits all the pieces together, baffles you beyond belief and becomes even more clever than the ending than The Sixth Sense or Unbreakable.
Signs is Shyamalan's best work and the best entry in the trilogy of films he did before his films started becoming full of twists and downright stupid. Along with the aforementioned Sixth Sense & Unbreakable, it makes a brilliant triple feature from an extraordinary film-maker who changed films forever.