Kristie Powell , Charger Staff
Overlooking all the commotion about the new summer blockbuster, Signs was another
run of the mill science fiction thrillers. Signs contains a good thought, but
has no in suspense.
Graham Hess (Mel Gibson) is a former minister questioning his faith on account
of the recent death of his wife.
His life, along with the lives of his 10-year-old son Morgan, 5-year-old daughter
Bo, and former minor leaguer and younger brother Merrill, are suddenly changed
by the appearances of the crop circles in his and other farms around the world.
The crop circles result in conflicts varying from the hostility of the family
dog to questioning the end of the world.
While the rest of the world is in chaos, Hess tries to ignore the fact that
the world is in potential danger. Finally Graham wises up, and he and Merrill
plan on staking out the farm. They also read up on aliens and even make cute,
little tin foil helmets to keep the aliens from reading their minds. Finally
the aliens make their move and force the innocent bystanders to board up their
house and take shelter.
Director M. Night Shyamalen (The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable) gives a somewhat
transcendental perspective of the extraterrestrial motives and being. Although
some people compare Shyamalen to Alfred Hitchcock, Signs does no justice to
Hitchcock’s imaginative flight.
Although slow in development, the actors really get into their characters.
Especially 5-year-old Bo (Rory Culkin) who gives a hilarious, deadpan performance.
The movie flows from an excessive, dare I say boring, melodrama followed by
a predictable climatic scenes and resolution.
Despite its sincere acting, Signs lacks suspense and is another unoriginal sci-fi film with a flimsy ending and lots of hype.
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Article prepared for web by J. Wheeler 6-Sept-2002