Unbreakable

After the critical & commercial success of The Sixth Sense, M. Night Shyamalan lands to present us the most grounded-to-earth superhero film that one will ever get to watch! The theme here is discovery. We have a story about a man who's discovering himself, or in other words, a superhero's origin tale. Even James Newton Howard's august theme music symphonizes & emulates the feeling we get when we finally discover something.

The opener is one hell of an adrenaline stunt! When the doctor says we have a rare condition in house, in which a baby's limbs are broken, you'll begin to shake & shiver! Shyamalan blocks every of your thoughts with that one punch, following up with a superb intro card & score. And we cut back to the present day, tailing our main guy, David Dunn (Bruce Willis). He has a problem with his marriage, he seems unhappy and he survives a train wreck without a dust on him! To find answers to all this, an unwillingly subconscious search ensues. Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson) is the pivotal supporting character in aiding our protagonist in this process. The entire concept of myths turned into comic books and the views regarding it by this persona is truly original.

Bruce Willis pulls off his role so well, with only needed gestures & dialogues. His diminutive reactions are noted, be it glaring tears, unhappiness or reliefs. As talks, facts & past events are thrown at him, he (David) questions himself. Who is he? Is he more than just a normal man, as claimed by Elijah & admired without a flinch by his son? Slowly & progressively, he comes to realization that he is indeed special. He doesn't get sick. He doesn't get physically hurt. He is unbreakable. That is his power. And just like any superheroes, this man has a weakness too. Water. "Water is your kryptonite". He senses crimes & goes after it. After the final showdown with a psychopathic criminal in a masterfully choreographed single take action sequence of chokings & wall-thumpings, David's character arc has come to a full bend. No more marriage problems, as he is happy with his private life now; after knowing & eventually doing what he is meant to do - protect people.

Up until this point, there's still a thing missing from the picture. A formidable antagonist or situation or the 'superhero moment' so to speak, as any classic metahuman movies would have. Without it, the resolution seems hanging without a spine; it's absolutely important for the story's completion. That's when the Shyamalan-esque twist kicks in! Elijah Price is our arch-villain! He's been the one causing one planned disaster after another, to find out who could be the exact opposite of him at the other end of the spectrum. On instant of disclosure, this may come off very unrelated & shoehorned in just for the sake of introducing a twist. But, think closely. Thematically, as aforementioned, this motion picture is about discovery. While David Dunn's in quest for the truth about himself, Elijah's doing the same too through the hero! He wants to know why's he placed on Earth, with such feeble & flimsy bone condition. One may ask, why would he help the hero to indirectly frame himself at the end? Well, being caught is the least of Elijah's worries or concerns. His forage is much bigger than that. He's been seeking for the purpose of his existence. The man's been living to locate his reason being on the damn planet. That is all. The picture is larger than you and I could think of, as we aren't in his shoes. At the end, you could get behind his motivation. The plot point is fulfilling & gratifying. All the doubts answer itself.

While Shyamalan is great in picturizing conventional scenes using unconventional ways, his writing for talkie parts aren't the best for sure. Due to so, the in-between segments of self-discovery dry up & become weary. Joseph (Spencer Treat Clark) picking up pistol to gun his dad is total jumpy as it isn't persuasive enough to happen. The fast forward zoom outs and ins for David's visions should have been replaced with something else more serious.