SIGNS ARE ULTIMATELY PONDEROUS (Signs (DVD))

Member Name: marandina

Product:	Signs (DVD)
Date:	24/05/03 (83 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great cast, Well made, Thoughtful

Disadvantages: A bit slow, Over analyses

When you combine a story line of crop circles, extraterrestrial aliens and a lingering family tragedy, you may be forgiven for thinking that you are on to a sure-fire winner. Signs is a movie that comes with all of these assets and yet...

Set in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Signs is the story of the Hess family. Made up of father, 2 children and uncle, Graham Hess (Mel Gibson) is the disillusioned patriach to his brother Merrill (Joaquin Pheonix of Gladiator fame) and 2 children Morgan (Rory Culkin) and Bo (Abigail Breslin).

Within the first few frames, the audience is introduced to the concept of crop circles with Gibson discovering the unearthly flattening of his corn crop in a curious configuration. The question is, is this a hoax or are aliens involved somehow?

Strange things start to happen. Footsteps on the roof of an incredibly fleet-footed intruder, the erratic behaviour of the family dog, these bizarre occurrences begin to accumulate leading to the increasing suspicion that the link with the crop circles is not coincidental.

What starts of as an insular tale expands into something more pandemic via the medium of television. Reports unfold of strange lights in the sky in different parts of the world of what appear to be unidentified space craft. It seems that the crop circles at the Hess farm have also occurred in other countries. So are they signs?

Ultimately, the viewer is taken on an increasingly tense journey into a sci-fi adventure paying, in some part, homage to HG Wells and his War of the Worlds creation from a bygone era.

The spectacularly named director, M Night Shyamalan, has an impressive track record of late. Having directed the suspenseful Sixth Sense and Unbreakable, he is keen to tell you that Signs is the latest multi-layered foray into the world of the paranormal. Rather than creating a kind of Space Invaders, blast 'em out of the sky feel along the lines of Independence Day, Shyamala
n feels he belongs more with directors of the past. In Signs, he is careful to build the tension so that the audience is taken on a Hitchcock like journey with the villain not being revealed until close to the closing credits. In the meantime, the angles made from the camera reveal expressions of apprehension and, at times, fear on the part of the main players designed to play on the audiences' emotions.

Shyamalan is also unashamedly visual. Plenty of aerial shots lend a feeling of both isolation of the family house (and its ultimate vulnerability to attack) and the global aspect of the story through shots of other crop circles and the slightly hazy aspect of the invading alien fleet.

Signs has a strong cast. With the exception of the unduly criticised The Patriot (in my view, anyway), Gibson has been very reliable in his output and here again he doesn't disappoint for effort. Quite where his brother Merrill fits in to the scheme of things is less clear apart from the spurious notion of a minor league, baseball hang-up. This latter point is taken advantage of in something of an oblique finale. Both the children do their best to relay the exposed nerves of a situation where they have yet to attain closure following the death of their mother.

Shyamalan gets the writing credits for Signs through which he strives for the depth he craves. In this case, the tragic death of Gibson's wife in a motor accident provides the dynamic for the internal family strife. The fact that Gibson was a priest before losing his faith after the death of his wife and is now a cynic provides both the story running alongside the increasing realisation of an alien invasion and the central axiom of the movie. In a conversation with his brother, Gibson debates whether signs can be construed as something more tangible that may even lead to miracles or something simply more random and meaningless. Herein lies the rub with the subtle reference to the idea that
there is a God a
nd greater purpose after all or maybe not as the case may be.

Special mention must go to James Newton Howard for creating such an enigmatic musical score, which provides a wonderfully atmospheric backdrop to the movie.

There was lots I liked about Signs. The creativity of using a baby monitor as some kind of alien listening device was inspired as was the thought that went into the story. The cast do their best to get across that feeling of being watched with some great scenes in amongst the corn crops. That feeling of being led on a chase where the antagonist keeps disappearing around the next bend is never far away.

I really couldn't help feeling short changed though. Throughout, it was as though the characters had a problem with the multi-faceted aspect of what was being asked of them. Rather than being suspenseful, the movie appeared simply ponderous. Without the advantage of shallow hokum a la Will Smith in Independence Day, Gibson et al had the sub plots ringing in their ears as to how to play a family still struggling with the loss of the mother whilst at the same time faced with a situation never really encountered before in the shape of malevolent aliens. It's as though the multi storylines were probably all too much for real life (which clearly movies aren't at times). Perhaps realistically, faced with such an event, there wouldn't be time for a family psychosis to surface when efforts needed to be channelled into survival instead?

Signs is a film worth watching. It's well made, thoughtful and has some great scenes. It will not enter the realms of the classics simply because it tried to achieve too much and, ultimately lacks conviction.

Thanks for reading

Running Time approx 102 minutes
Cert: 12

The movie can be bought on VHS from Amazon for £13.49 (used from £7.49)

The DVD retails at £14.99 and includes the special features The Making of Sig
ns, Deleted scenes, Storyboard and Night's First Alien Movie.

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