Unbreakable (2000)

“They call me Mr. Glass…” M. Night Shyamalan’s (this was before the name Shyamalamadingdong became worthy) second major film, Unbreakable, is a movie that divides a lot of people. But, much like the 2011 film The Tree of Life, not a soul will ever agree on it. I (and neither will any fellow movie-lovers) refuse to admit fault in The Tree of Life, at least any faults that are hate-worthy. And I say the same thing with Unbreakable. While I think The Tree of Life is a better film than Unbreakable, it does not dilute the love I have for this film in any way. Despite having a lot of people hate this movie for either its unconventional tone, lack of a brand name superhero, or the wicked twist ending that many people hate, this movie is an absolutely wonderful film, and is easily Shyamalan’s best film, and yes, it is a better film than The Sixth Sense. Easily deserving its place as one of Time’s “Top 10 Superhero Movies” list, Unbreakable stars Bruce Willis as David Dunn, a man who finds out, with the help of odd comic book fan named Elijah Price (the perfect Samuel L. Jackson, whose comic book fan basically to the extent of ‘him with comics/me with movies’) with osteogenesis imperfecta, a rare disease where those affected have extremely brittle bones, those that break unnaturally. What may be a simple scratch to one of us would be a good number of bone fractures, something that actually does happen in the movie. But Elijah’s logic is that if there is someone like him, there must be someone else on the other side of the spectrum, someone who is truly unbreakable, a superhero, and that man, David, is found by Elijah after he is the sole survivor of a freak train accident. I know I’m not explaining this well. Quentin Tarantino explains it best-“What if Superman was here on Earth, and didn’t know he was Superman?” That quote really does explain this movie best. It is an origin story to a new superhero, a new hero for a new generation. But, don’t get me wrong, this movie isn’t perfect. The first thirty minutes or so of this film are very slow, as is the entire film, but it takes about thirty minutes for the film to completely set in, at least for me. But despite that, the movie is a tense film, a wonderful one, and one that shall be recommended for ages passed on. And-the twist ending at the end of this movie is a wonderful one. Just saying. “It’s how I knew. It was the kids! They called me Mr. Glass.”
8.5/10