Aliens only part of the suspense
The real suspense in the film was Mel Gibson's journey into his soul. Even after the aliens were vanquished I was on the edge of my seat. Gibson's performance was exceptional, I still remember the multiple complex reaction on his face when Shyamalan is trying to ask Gibson for forgiveness.
The letdown was the only serious thing
The previews were far more intriguiging than the movie! Surely if someone can take Mel Gibson seriously it would help, and I think both he and the director were making an earnest effort (can Mel Gibson's performance in "Ransom" ever be comnpletely forgiven?), but what a garbled mish-mash of mixed messages! Journey into his..soul? Uh, yeah, go that alright, was Mel being 'punished' for having to modify his interpretation of his faith? Weird message, if that's what it was...
The aliens? While I agree the low-tech approach can work, and has worked countless times, there was something so goofy about these elaborate 'crop circle' messages that amounted to nothing, at least for us viewers ...would it have been that hard to make up (since crop circles are 'made up' by design!) some quirky discovery like 'aha, this geometric pattern means they'll invade Egypt next' ? Though that wouldn't really help, I would have liked a little more background on these awesome and evil outsiders..
A movie that poses as a spiritual quest, but has to use a baseball bat to find 'resolution' scares me more than the goofball acting Mel Gibson excels in.
The children were good, though the preacher's son seemed awfully bitter and hateful...Thank God it was "just a movie"!
Hmmm, strange I thought Gibson was compelling
I have yet to see a major reviewer give Gibson anything less that accolades for his performance. I thought his performance added to the suspense of the film, because unlike Bruce Willis in Shyamalan's "The Sixth Sense" and "Unbreakable" he was never smug or sure of himself. His "uncomfortable-ness" led to the audience being uncomfortable. Well one man's Laurence Olivier is another man's William Shatner...
Re: Hmmm, strange I thought Gibson was compelling
Quote:
Originally posted by stevetseitz
I have yet to see a major reviewer give Gibson anything less that accolades for his performance. I thought his performance added to the suspense of the film, because unlike Bruce Willis in Shyamalan's "The Sixth Sense" and "Unbreakable" he was never smug or sure of himself. His "uncomfortable-ness" led to the audience being uncomfortable. Well one man's Laurence Olivier is another man's William Shatner...
: ) Great point! I'd have to say, though, at least Shatner was playing in a cartoon/sci-fi/small-screen environment, which made him more 'palatable'!
As far as what "major reviewers" say, well, uhm, so what? Aren't you here to express your own opinions, or to mimic what 'the big boys' tell you to think? Isn't the point of such a forum as this to express your own impressions & thoughts - how often do you agree with 'major' or even 'minor' reviewers, anyway? I very often find agreement and in equal portions, disagreement, with said major-league reviewers...It's clear that Gibson was changing styles and making an effort to appear sincere. But you're right, it's a personal thing, he looks goofy to me and playing straight seemes to make the goofiness worse.
I'm not 100% certain that 'major reviewers' are always at complete liberty to express themselves - hence the great opportunity to read & write striaght-from-the-hip reviews here!
Gibson was perfect for signs....
.....BECAUSE of his pedigree in other less serious action movies.
Hitchcock did this all the time. By using an known actor or even an "icon" like Jimmy Stewart in "Vertigo" does the viewer suffer because we think of Jimmy Stewart as "George Bailey" from "It's a Wonderful Life"?. Of course not. The argument is a straw man.
Gibson is a movie star because of his likability and talents. He's certainly not Hollywood's sweetheart because of his politics. If you look at some of his best work: "The Year of Living Dangerously", "The Bounty", "Mrs. Soffell", "Hamlet", "Forever Young", and "Braveheart" you'll find that before Gibson was manic-cliched "borderline-burnout" cop he was serious actor and aspiring director.
Oh, and to whoever said Bruce Willis was a better actor I have two words for you "Hudson Hawk".