April 17, 2008

In 1999 M. Night Shyamalan changed the face of Hollywood, perhaps forever, with his movie, The Sixth Sense. From that moment forward, every screenwriter, director, and studio has tried to incorporate some sort of huge “shock ending” element to their films, even to the point where TV’s Robot Chicken has a running “What a Twist!” gag that reappears from time to time.

Perhaps what amuses me the most is that M. Night really wasn’t trying to pioneer a genre. He just enjoyed exploring the “unexpected” elements of a story not unlike the stories he grew up watching on The Twilight Zone. I too enjoy the unexpected but only when it actually works within the confines of the overall narrative, and what Hollywood doesn’t seem to understand is that when you force a surprise ending on an audience over and over we quickly catch on and then spend the entire film trying to anticipate how the movie is going to surprise us rather than enjoying the story being told.

M. Night scored a hat trick with three hugely successful films, starting with The Sixth Sense and ending with Signs, my personal favorite of the three, but even while The Sixth Sense was still being filmed M. Night was talking with Bruce Willis about another project he was tossing around, a project so tempting, so original, that Bruce couldn’t resist, and a year later audiences were treated to Unbreakable.

Unbreakable brings together an unbeatable cast with Bruce Willis leading the way, followed closely by Samuel L. Jackson in one of his most subtle, yet powerful and dramatic performances to date. Sure, we all know Sam can get a bit crazy at times, and after his role in Pulp Fiction we know he is the master when it comes to delivering lengthy and articulate monologues, but the sheer intensity of his portrayal of handicapped Elijah Price is unlike anything he’s done before.

Robin Wright Penn became an unforgettable actress thanks to her charming role in The Princess Bride, and she was amazing in Forrest Gump. Her acting skills weren’t really tapped for her performance as Audrey, estranged wife of David Dunn played by Bruce, but even so, she lights up the screen every time she shares it and creates a very believable character.

But back to Bruce, the star and in this case the undeniable hero of the story. David Dunn is your everyday real-life guy with real-life problems. He’s a security guard at the local sports stadium and he’s quite good at his job thanks to an uncanny…sixth sense…when it comes to sniffing out trouble and troublemakers. His marriage is on the rocks, and when we meet David he is returning from an interview with plans to leave his home, wife, and son for a new job. He’s riding back into town on the commuter train which ultimately derails killing everybody onboard…except David. Not only is he uninjured; there isn’t a single scratch on him. The doctors are puzzled, even a bit skeptical that he was even on the train, but David is reunited with his wife and son amongst the resentful stares of the families of the dead.

With a new appreciation for life and second chances, David and Audrey try to rekindle their romance just about the time Elijah Price enters their lives. Now, we actually get to meet Elijah, even before David. In fact, we see Elijah being born, coming into the world with all his arms and legs broken. We learn that Elijah has a degenerative bone disease that makes his bones brittle and easy to break. We catch up to him at age 13, staring out the window, watching other kids at play, afraid to even venture outdoors in case he might break something. His mother coaxes him outside to a park bench where a mysterious gift-wrapped box awaits. Inside is a comic book, and his mother promises that every day a new one will be waiting for him if he faces his fears and goes outside.

When we catch back up with Elijah in the present timeline we find him as the successful owner of an art gallery that deals with artists specializing in comic book portraits. Elijah has become quite the expert on comics and the lore behind them, tracing their origins as far back as Egyptian hieroglyphics. He is equally as fascinated with David Dunn, after reading about the train wreck and finding the words he has been searching for all his life…”sole survivor”.

He approaches David with some preposterous notions about David being invincible, asking if he has ever been sick or injured…ever. David is quick to brush off Elijah, but back at home he and his son, Joseph, slowly discover that he may in fact possess numerous “powers”. David has never been sick, is exceptionally strong, and as we already learned from the train wreck, impervious to physical harm. He also has the uncanny ability to see into the lives of other people with a simple touch, even a casual brush in a crowded room.

Once David accepts his abilities the rest of the film ventures into a story of self-discovery, acceptance, heroism, the rebuilding of his family unit, and a horrific revelation at the end giving us an even greater insight into the dementia of Elijah and just how far one man’s obsession can take him.

M. Night is a masterful filmmaker and has crafted a work of art with limited resources. There are lengthy scenes in this film with no dialogue, forcing the actors to tap deep into the hidden resources of their talent. Perhaps one of the most powerful scenes in the film is when David and Joseph are sitting at the breakfast table and David pushes the morning paper over to him with the headline about a hero saving some kids from a psycho home invader. David simply points to the article and nods; a subtle confirmation to his tearful son that his dad really is the super-hero he has suspected all along. A finger over his lips clearly indicates mom doesn't need to know.

There are many more extended periods of verbal silence, which are normally disastrous in a drama such as this. Normally, when the speech stops so does the narrative, but M. Night can literally work magic with a mix of elegant camera moves, powerful score, and flawless casting. Never before has so much story been told with so few words. Even the lighting and sets work their subconscious magic on the viewer, as M. Night has clearly divided the worlds of David and Elijah into warm and cool color pallets that instantly set the tone with each scene.

Filmmaking: 10
M. Night Shyamalan is clearly a master of his craft and Unbreakable is a fantastic exercise in storytelling with rich characters that you can instantly relate with and a story that delves into the world of comics and superheroes from a very realistic perspective. The premise holds up amazingly well, even after eight years, perhaps even more so now that we have shows like NBC’s Heroes that deal with everyday people coping with mysterious abilities. M. Night doesn’t concern himself or the viewers with the origins of these abilities, just the struggle in acceptance and dealing with them.

Visuals: 7
Unbreakable is perhaps the darkest movie in my Blu-ray collection so far, not only in its thematic elements but also in its overall lighting and visual design. While moments of color and warmth will punch up the family life of David, most of the movie deals with the dark and sinister reality of evil and the cool blues and whites of Elijah’s world. Many of the scenes seem to have had the color literally drained from them, almost achieving a monochromatic tone. On some of the brighter scenes like Elijah in a wheelchair in the comic book store, the 1080p detail is more apparent, but in side-by-side comparisons with the standard DVD, it was hard to see much, if any, drastic improvement.

Sound: 9
Unbreakable is considerably light on dialogue, Sam Jackson’s lengthy monologues not withstanding. M. Night's movies seem to say the most when the actors aren’t saying anything, and a large contributing factor is the flawless score that drives the story and tugs at your emotions. I challenge anyone not to wipe away at least one tear during the aforementioned breakfast scene. The uncompressed 5.1 PCM mix delivers an impressive audio experience that surpasses the mix on the standard DVD release.

Value: 7
While I would have enjoyed more extras on this feature I suppose we can’t expect to get any more bonus features than were already available with the previous special edition on standard DVD. After all, the movie is eight years old now, so any commentary would really be pushing the memories of anyone who might offer one. Instead, we get the same non-HD offerings already available including a “Behind the Scenes” look at the making of the movie, “Comic Books and Superheroes”, which offers an insightful look at the cultural impact of comics on society, and you can also watch a multi-angle feature of “The Train Station Sequence”. There are also a handful of deleted scenes totaling nearly 30 minutes and they even included “Night’s First Fight Sequence”, a scene from M. Night’s childhood and one of his earliest movies, Millionaire.

Overall: 8.7
Unbreakable is a fantastic and timeless movie that will appeal to those who enjoy a good drama, interesting characters, and flawless performances by all involved. Surprisingly enough, even with M. Night’s trademark twist the movie is just as fun to watch the second time as it is the first, perhaps more so now that you can start reading more into the subtle performances and noticing specific hints leading toward the inevitable conclusion. If you already own the standard DVD, especially the nice special edition one, it would be hard for me to recommend double dipping for the BD version, but if you don’t already have a copy of Unbreakable in your DVD library you won’t find a finer technical presentation of this masterpiece of filmmaking.