Fragile Premise Made To Be Broken

Newcastle Herald

Friday December 1, 2000

Ben Doherty

Review

Unbreakable (M) Director: M. Night Shyamalan Stars: Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson. Rating: ????

THIS is not a movie. It's a two-hour advertisement for an as-yet unmade sequel.

Not that M. Night Shyamalan's new offering Unbreakable doesn't have good points.

Samuel L. Jackson for example. He's very good.

But he'd be worth watching brushing his teeth, so that doesn't count.

Fans of Shyamalan's The Sixth Sense shouldn't expect a repeat because Unbreakable, although another good supernatural thriller with a `surprise' ending, doesn't make the grade.

Shyamalan has tried to domesticate the myth of the comic book superhero. That is, how would Superman have handled marital problems while still saving the world each day?

David Dunn (Bruce Willis) survives a train crash in which 131 die.

He is led to brittle-boned Elijah Price (Jackson), who convinces him he has special powers.

But it's up to the mild-mannered security guard to decide what to do with them.

I imagine we will find out in the sequel.

? Ben Doherty Tower, Charlestown, Glendale, Maitland, Raymond Terrace, Nelson Bay, Singleton.