Similar in many ways to writer/director/producer M. Night Shyamalan's earlier work, The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable is a steady if hardly earth-shattering follow-up to one of the most successful films of 1999. Starting with a black screen with white type informing us that comic books are a very important part of American culture, the film moves from 1961 to the present day quickly while introducing the two main characters, Samuel L. Jackson's Elijah Price and Bruce Willis's David Dunn.
Both introductory scenes are important, though for different reasons that become apparant later, but Dunn's is the most shocking when the train he is travelling on is involved in a devestating crash that leads to him being the only survivor. Not only that but he is unscathed, having not one scratch or bump on him. Through this horrible event we begin to surmise the point of the film with Jackson's character informing Willis that he is a 'protector' of some sort and that his survival wasn't a fluke, he is literally 'unbreakable'.
The film itself moves along at a slow and very depressing rate and one wonders that if it hadn't been by Shyamalan it would not have been granted such audience patience, but throughout it all one can sense the reasoning behind it. Dunn is a lonely and confused man, unable to see his role in life, and these troubles are causing the break-up of his marriage and the distancing of himself from his child. Unsurprisingly, Price's attention and belief in Dunn is at first rejected and scorned but as the film wears on and Dunn's mind clears he begins to see his destiny.
Everyone watching Unbreakable will surely be waiting for the twist at the end and in my mind it didn't disappoint, though it's clearly not going to be as much of a surprise as in The Sixth Sense. However, one feels that unlike that film the twist is not the sole point of the story. It's more layered, dealing with people's belief in finding their place, in putting their faith in heroes and exactly how much a person would sacrifice for love. If the twist didn't take place I would still feel satisfied by a movie I felt was well made and superbly scripted and which didn't insult my intelligence or end with a saccharine sweet finish, a rarity in Hollywood terms these days. |
