As in his previous movies, “The Sixth Sense” and “Unbreakable,” M. Night Shyamalan introduces the audience to an ordinary man dealing with forces out of his control and that he can scarcely believe. This protagonist is forced to overcome his own personal demons while wrestling with the paranormal. Yet again, Shyamalan returns to this tired theme in the underwhelming “Signs.” Unfortunately, in this case repetition does not bring mastery. “Signs” is at times funny and often absurd, but only rarely suspenseful. It is a movie chalked full of contrived plot devices and storyline gimmicks.
The first scene of the movie introduces the audience to Graham Hess (Mel Gibson, “Braveheart”), a former priest. Hess wakes up with a gasp — almost as though he were having a nightmare. Indeed, such an original beginning to a horror movie portends a greatness to come. Hess goes into his cornfield to find his children (Rory Culkin and Abigail Breslin) playing in a crop circle. When a cop arrives, she asks, “What kind of machine can bend crops without breaking it?” to which Mel Gibson responds, “It can’t be done by hand, it’s too perfect.” Despite this seemingly conclusive statement, Hess chalks the crop circle up to a local teenage prank. We later discover that Hess is a priest who, yes, is questioning his faith.
As the movie continues we learn that these circles are not the work of teenagers but extraterrestrial intelligence. Ships begin appearing over major cities, and we learn that these are not the nice aliens from “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” The alien civilization has traveled light-years to our solar system to conquer mankind.
Luckily these aliens use the same radio band as baby intercoms, and their plans to conquer earth basically amount to a full frontal assault through hand-to-hand combat. The clichéd plot devices are numerous and thinly veiled. The introduction of the baby monitor, and Hess’s son’s asthma, all “happen for a reason,” as Gibson’s character realizes. But the culmination of these heretofore seemingly random events in the final moments of the film serves to collapse Shyalaman’s theme into the realm of the manufactured rather than the supernatural.
Shyamalan is able to conjure up a few fleeting moments of suspense and a few chuckles. It is quite funny to hear the characters comment on the “expert” U.F.O. book or realize that it is the dead of night in both Pennsylvania and Amman, Jordan at the same time.
Moreover, Shyamalan is adept in shooting interesting film angles and filming a world of browns and greens. Still, he often resorts to throwing in copious, unexpected surprises designed solely to make the audience jump. (I counted nine separate times.)
The acting is one of the few aspects of the film that particularly stands out. Mel Gibson adequately portrays a priest unsure about spiritual meaning and who holds God responsible for the death of his wife. The children actors are cute and well coached. They deliver lines with the right amount of dread and humor. However, the film is stolen by Joaquin Phoenix (“Gladiator”). He transforms the role of a washed out baseball player into a person who is compassionate, hopeful, witty, and likable. He, above all others, breathes life into the stale role he is given.
Noticeably absent from this film — as from Shyamalan’s previous works — is a strong female character. Perhaps Shyamalan has not developed enough as a screenwriter to write a protagonist of the opposite sex; however, this omission is glaring and unwelcome.
Fear is the most primeval emotion, and the most ancient fear is the fear of the unknown. For a thriller to work, especially this kind of thriller, it must tap into this primitive instinct. The feared object must lie on the edge of vision and at the boundary of man’s knowledge. The very subject matter of “Signs” deletes this fundamental element.
We know from the appearance of crop circles — apart from the massive advertising blitz — that the culprits are hostile extraterrestrials. We know that they are not the work of teenage boys or a world-wide conspiracy. There is only one explanation, and the very existence of this explanation takes the teeth out of Shyamalan’s would-be thriller.
Grade: C
