signs

I kinda new what signs was about before I watched it.

In fact, actually, you can pretty much tell what signs is about from the title and the box / poster art.  However, being an M Night Shyamalan film, I was also expecting some sort of twist.  Or, more specifically, I knew the film was about aliens, but I was expecting some sort of twist on that.

And while there was a twist, it wasn't really concerned with the aliens, as such.  So the aliens didn't turn out to actually be humans from the future or friendly but misunderstood or anything like that - the aliens were pretty much as presented.  The twist was more subtle than that, and I think it worked.

In fact, I was actually surprised as I wasn't really expecting to like signs, but I actually quite enjoyed it.  Despite the clear indication that it's a story about aliens, he still manages to build a good feeling of suspense and tension and, crucially, it feels quite real.  It feels like, if aliens were to come here, this might be a possible way it plays out.

Well, I say that - there's a bit of a reveal at the end that doesn't quite make sense.  It's not the twist, as such, and I won't spoiler it, although some simple Google searching will probably reveal it to you if you feel so inclined.  But basically it's a bit of an odd idea that actually made the aliens a bit crap.  If you know much about science it would also make it impossible to be on the planet at all, but it's not too big a thing.

The film stars Mel Gibson of course and he gives a good performance.  It's a little difficult nowadays not to think of the whole anti-Semitic drunkenness thing of course, but after a while you get used to his character being quite a subtle, gentle person.

The DVD had some pretty good extras too.  There's a nice making of featurette and an interesting commentary.  Shyamalan is quite a talkative chap, which is always good.  Some directors can be rather quiet on commentaries, which I've always thought of as a bit odd as surely it's your chance to explain stuff about this film that you've invested a big chunk of your life in and, presumably, had an eventful time making.

I've not much else to say, really - I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.