Unbreakable Review (Classic Write-Up)

Break Away

When I saw Unfriended this past weekend, I was shocked to see a trailer I (GASP) hadn't seen seen on the internet beforehand. The trailer was for The Visit, a found-footage(?) horror film from M. Night Shaymalan that was chock full of stupidity and terrible dialogue (the best bad line is easily "Would get into the oven to clean it?", which is delivered in a way that briefly makes it seem like the sentence will conclude with the word over) and reminded me of how far M. Night Shyamalan had fallen in recent years.

Of course, back in 2000, the writer/producer/director was just coming off The Sixth Sense and was being groomed to be one of two directors (the other being Michael Bay) who would make uber successful movies for Touchstone Pictures on a regular basis. Over Thanksgiving 2000, when Disney (which owns Touchstone Pictures) was also releasing 102 Dalmatians, Shyamalans then newest effort reached movie theaters across the world. 15 years later, it's a great reminder of the mans talent for creating suspenseful and engaging thrillers.

Similar to the next feature in his filmography, Signs, Unbreakable blends stylized sci-fi elements with standard environments and characters, with this particular adventure focusing on security guard David Dunn (Bruce Willis), who finds himself walking away unscathed after being in a tremendous train crash. This leads Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson) to believe David is a superhuman being, the kind that can be found in the comic books that have given Elijah hope throughout his life.

With a superhero at the center of its story, it's surprising that Unbreakable remains small in scale for the entirety of its story. There are no over-the-top villains or car chases, the cynosure of the plot is kept squarely on how these capabilities affect David and his home life. Handling the protagonists inner, and occasionally outer, conflict in this sort of pragmatic manner helps the more down-to-earth tone of the protagonists home to work well with the kind of strength Elijah believes David possesses.

Bruce Willis, playing the tales lead, gives a restrained performance that initially put me off, since I felt it would just be him sleepwalking through the role. But his more muted executions of David Dunn works quite well at conveying the sort of wistful mindset that dominates his mindset. Samuel L. Jackson is also a treat, especially when he has to handle numerous parts of the movies twist ending. While this has become a storytelling trope for Shyamalan in his more recent work, here, it shows just why this sort of plot turn can work when done properly; it offers a chance to enhance the story and its themes. Unlike hot dogs, Shyamalans negative reputation is deserved thanks to such poor films as The Last Airbender and After Earth, but Unbreakable does prove that, once upon a time, thee was legitimate wonder in his work.