Unbreakable

Movie Name: Unbreakable
Year of Release: 2000

Director: M. Night Shyamalan

Stars: Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Robin Wright, Spencer Treat Clark, Eamonn Walker, Charlayne Woodard, Leslie Stefanson, Bostin Christopher, Michael Kelly

Genre: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi

Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 8
Watch it on Amazon

Synopsis:

Following the astounding success of "The 6th Sense", director M. Night Shyamalan quickly returned, with yet another great feature. The film focuses on the story of Security Guard David Dunn. At the beginning of the film we witness David miraculously surviving a catastrophic train crash outside Philadelphia. He is the sole survivor out of 132 passengers and he also appears to be completely unharmed. Following this traumatic event, David is contacted by Elijah Price, who runs a comic book art gallery and suffers from a genetic condition that makes his bones very easy to break. Elijah has been a comic book fan all his life, and he has a theory that superheroes are actually based on real people. Elijah believes David may be one of these people. He has hardly ever been injured or sick, and he has tremendous strength, plus an uncanny ability to tell if someone is about to or has done something bad. David is surprised by this notion, but suddenly a series of events put this theory to the test.
M. Night Shyamalan was at the peak of his creative powers when he created "Unbreakable". The director allows for the feature to slowly develop and bring the seemingly preposterous concept to a possible reality, giving enough space for the characters to be more than standard archetypes. It's a film that smartly introduces us to the universe of the main characters, allowing us to really create empathy for what they go through, and how suddenly Elijah's theory can throw reality upside down. The film slowly peels away the facet of every day life, revealing the actual destiny of its main characters. The director smartly weaves these relationships, and allows for the actors to create interesting characters, particularly Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson, who reunite following their experience on "Die Hard with a Vengeance" (which John McTiernan directed in 1995). The cinematography from Eduardo Serra is stunning (as usual), as is the score from James Newton Howard. A very good film worth revisiting.