Sunday 8 January 2012

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A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Year:2002
Country of origin:USA
Director:M. Night Shyamalan
Genre:Alien invasion creepiness
Starring:Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix, Rory Culkin, Abigail Breslin
Rating:4/5
IMDB link:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0286106/
Tagline:It's Not Like They Didn't Warn Us.
Favourite line:"It's a bunch of crock. They're trying to sell sodas. I've been watching all morning, and I've seen 12 soda commercials. 12."

M. Night Shyamalan's third major feature, The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable coming before this, is an efficient if slightly schizophrenic affair.
Critically savaged, this is nowhere near as bad as I had feared, and is both tense and genuinely frightening on occasion.

There are two strands here, interlinked, one dealing with an alien invasion and the other dealing with a former reverend (Gibson's Graham Hess) and his crisis of faith following the loss of his wife in a freak road traffic accident.
Hess and his family live on an isolated farm, where mysterious crop circles begin to appear. It's not long before the phenomenon has spread, and become a global event. Shortly after, strange lights begin to appear in the sky, and video footage is recorded of alien bipeds on Earth. Obviously, the world is gripped by panic, particularly when it becomes clear that the visitors aren't the friendly, E.T. variety everyone had hoped.
Hess' wife was mown down by a driver who had fallen asleep at the wheel as she was taking a walk, leading to Hess' loss of faith, and a firm conviction that there is no guiding divinity watching over us and that instead we are governed by coincidence and chance. His faith and resolve are tested even further as his family become besieged in their own home by the aliens.

Intirguing and intelligent, the 'shock' ending that Shyamalan is known for isn't quite as profound as either of the two previously mentioned movies, or indeed his next film, The Village, but this is still never less than entertaining.
Gibson is in fine form, as is Phoenix, and Shyamalan's amazing ability to include kids in his movies without inducing vomit continues here.
A good film.
Ignore the moaning critics.

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