Unbreakable (2000)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2000
	Director: M. Night Shyamalan (The Village, Signs, The 6th Sense)
	Actors: Bruce Willis (Die Hard 1-5), Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction, Avengers 1-4), Robin Wright (The Congress, House of Cards TV-series)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Thriller, Fantasy
	Conditions of visioning: 31.03.2019, VOD, 10" tablet screen.
Synopsis: David Dunn (Willis) doesn't feel whole in his life. When he is the sole survivor of a train wreck, he will come to question his life, and the character of Elijah (Jackson) will push him to accept a strange revelation.
Review: There was a lot of expectation around this movie as it was released, the next M. Night Shyamalan after the big success The 6th Sense (both written and directed by him). I watched a YouTube review about this movie and totally agree that the consensus of giving a bad rating to Unbreakable because the ending twist is not as good as the one in The 6th Sense is stupid. Ok M. Night Shyamalan got us used to his style of bomb twists, a style he is slowly trying to get out of, but that is no criterion on which to solely base a movie 's quality. If I had to criticize something about this movie it would be the excess of Shyamalan original shots, constantly trying to show us familiar things (a discussion, a man standing in the rain...) under a new angle even when it was not strictly needed (Hitchcock was doing that too). But as Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain) said to critics of him making always similar-looking movies, you should know what to visually expect from Shyamalan and not complain about it. Besides, those stylish effects match the story of two men searching for their purpose. Forgetting any critics I could have, I found that story and the way the director told it very refreshing and incredibly ahead of its time, giving us a reflection on super-hero movies when that trend was still in its infancy. This is quite remarkable. Once the trend was set, other have also tried to reflect on the consequences of being a real-world super-hero, in different styles (Watchmen, Super, Kick-Ass, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World), but never was the reflection so deep. I love how the comics book hero rules are respected throughout the film, down to the name of the main character with its double initials (like for many Marvel heroes). Samuel L. Jackson is even better than usual, for me one of his top roles with Pulp Fiction and Kingsman: The Secret Service. After The 6th Sense, Bruce Willis delivers another solid dramatic performance, a nice change of pace from his action hero sticker, and his sidekick kid played by Spencer Treat Clark is also nice. Most remarkable, Robin Wright plays a role miles away from what she will do only 15 years later in the House of Cards TV-show, sign of a talented versatile actress. About the twist, the movie does have one but the heart of it is really more the central revelation that is slowly brought and doesn't come as a surprised or a twist when it comes. Almost 20 years later, still an excellent powerful movie that hasn't lost of its significance in the currently saturated cinematographic landscape, on the contrary. I am now tempted to go watch the recent sequel Mr Glass, as well as the connected (as I have just learned) Split with James McAvoy, both by the same director.
Rating: 8 /10