Movie Review: Signs (2002)

Signs is a 2002 directorial effort by M. Night Shyamalan. Signs stars Mel Gibson and Joaquin Pheonix as two brothers who find strange symbols carved into their cropfields. Gibson's children in the movie as well as the two men themselves slowly began to investigate into this incident and become increasingly more obsessed with it. All while also paying notice to a seemingly random invasion of UFOs over the entire globe. The movie Signs has always been my favorite film directed by Shyamalan. It's a great movie. That's really how I would sum it up. This is one of the best movies I have ever seen. What works so well about Signs is how director Shyamalan builds suspense. The first time I saw this movie I was instantly notified of how creepy and eerie this movie is. The movie feels very uneasey right away from the get go and it doesn't let that feeling go until the last second of the picture. I suppose the best part of this film would be it's acting. Mel Gibson gives a riveting performance as a man who has lost all of his faith. I won't spoil why because that's part of the story, but this movie really encorporates the theme of faith excellently into the story. Are there any flaws? Yes! There is one very minor flaw that I have which is how the alien looks. I won't say anymore than that, but there lies a problem in that the alien doesn't look realistic. One of the best things about this entire film is the child performances. The daughter portrayed by Abigail Breslin is really terrific, inspired, and scary. This is a movie that comes from somebody who loves film. It's a product of a filmmaker who loves movies. I love that about Signs. It's very inspired by other content. The movie excels at sucking the viewer right into the film and making them want to witness these events as they unfold. Overall, Signs is an effectively suspenseful and creepy movie that offers great performances, great storyline, and an even greater rewatchable science fiction masterpiece. Four stars