Maybe there really were amoebas in the water that were harming the aliens.
Good movie, many tense moments.
Maybe there really were amoebas in the water that were harming the aliens.
Good movie, many tense moments.
Maybe it was the flouride in the water, or something in the well water that the town had. As for the aliens, just because they have cars that can travel millions of light years to earth doesn’t mean Napoleon is in command. They could be very good engineers but Pvt. Pyle on the battlefield. And if so, stealing humans is about the dumbest thing they could have ever done, we are the meanest bastards in the universe, and those aliens are as good as toast.
Really liked this movie, probably the second best I’ve seen this summer (“8 Legged Freaks” being the best, for entirely different reasons).
I did see many of the problems and nitpicks mentioned here (most notably the gun thing and not calling the cops about the one in the pantry) but I was more than willing to set them aside and enjoy the story.
I just wanted to put my 2 bits in for an answer to the pickaxe question posted above: If they were using the pickaxe to hold the door shut against the aliens, then Merrill(sp?) wouldn’t have taken it up with him when he went first because Mel would need it to be able to seal the door again if the aliens were still in the house. After Merrill declares the house to be alien-free (good detective work there, bud) Mel has to carry his son upstairs so he doesn’t have a free hand for the axe.
This is just a guess, but it seems to fit. Feel free to disprove it at your leisure.
P.S. I just wanted to add the little girl in this movie may be the 2nd cutest human being in existence (of course, I’m biased because she looks just like my niece, who is the number one cutest human).
Nitpicks and annoyances aside, I had a pretty good time watching Signs. I agree with what was said above about the point of the film being a crisis and restoration of faith, and not an alien invasion; I wish that that crisis had been a little more fleshed out in the narrative. I mean, I understood that and all, but the alien plotline took center stage and eclipsed much of Graham’s issues with God, which were told mostly through gesture, expression, flashbacks to his wife’s death, and monologues like the “two types of people” one he delivers to Merrill. Perhaps that goes toward explaining the lack of special effects in regard to the aliens; Shyamalan may have been concerned that flashy technical achievements would draw attention away from the primary story. I did think the ending of the film was totally contrived, predictable, and a little weak; after Morgan is saved, we expect Graham to likewise be “saved” and return to his faith. I thought the film had a great balance of drama, comedy, and horror, often all in the same scene. Some of my favorite moments:
Bo asks Graham where the remote control is. When he tells her to change the channel by hand, she replies that the same show’s on every channel. After the (continuing) news coverage of September 11th, that had a little extra poignancy and dread. This girl stole every scene she was in.
Merrill, Bo, Morgan, and Graham sitting in the pizza parlor. We see them look out at the parking lot, and (I think) Bo says, “Is that him?”, Graham says “Yes,” and we see the shot of Shyamalan making brief eye contact with the family and getting into his car. Kind of a cooly meta-moment, reinforcing both current criticism and praise of Shyamalan’s status as an American auteur. He’s no actor, but I think this cameo appearance of his was particularly appropriate.
It’s a cheap one, but Graham shouting “I’m insane with anger!” when he and Merrill run around the house. This was like a throwback to the cocky slapsticky Mel Gibson of Lethal Weapon.
Merrill watching the birthday video with the alien, shouting “Move, children! Vamanos!” at the screen. I suppose I wasn’t aware that Joaquin Phoenix could be so hysterical. Love him in the foil hat.
“It’s not about alien invasion, it’s about faith.”
It’s not good. That’s the problem. If you can’t tell a story about faith without an alien invasion, then at least attempt to make the alien invasion interesting. God, it irritates me to hear people defend the movie’s laziness by saying that that’s what Shyamalan intended. Why is simple logic not a prerequisite for quality? Do you also excuse his incredibly poorly-paced “climax?” How about his groan-inspiring recap sequences? (“Look, it’s the same alien, 'cause it’s missing fingers!” Yeah, I picked up on that, M., thanks.)
If he’s going to write a movie about a crisis of faith, how about writing one that isn’t incredibly obvious in its direction? Who in any theatre doesn’t know from the get-go that, yes, Mel will regain his faith, and yes, he will reconcile with his children, and yes, he will make peace with his wife’s death?
What Shyamalan intended was to continue his over-extended ego trip with a movie that helps define his downward spiral into crappiness. The Sixth Sense was excellent. Unbreakable had some interesting ideas but was laboriously dull in execution. Signs is hopelessly impressed with itself, and in no way justified in it.
It has nothing to do with the fact that it had a silly, unbelievable, cliche and trite alien invasion. That’s just gravy.
"the thing I disliked the most, although there are some very good points mentioned already, is almost more basic than any of those: the ‘bipedal-two-armed-single-headed-etc.’ aliens. I hate when movies/TV shows can’t come up with a better idea for an alien than ‘hey, maybe they look pretty much like we do’. "
If I recall the Discovery Channel, it would be logical to assume aliens would have some sort of form similar to ours. How else would they be able to build the spaceships and fly them? Besides, when people think of aliens they think of the greys, colored green.
“ASIDE: did anyone else see a resemblance in the ‘birthday party in Mexico’ videotape that shot the alien walking across the driveway to the famous Bigfoot video shot in the 70’s in NW US?”
It can’t be just me, but has anyone else noticed a similarity between the aliens in this movie and the monsters in some other movie? I know I’ve seen the alien someplace else, but I can’t think of where.
"And I felt like the movie was trying to go cutesy in the middle with Joaquin Phoenix (can’t remember his character’s name) and the kids sitting on the couch with aluminum foil helmets. "
Aye. There were too many feely laughs in the movie. :rolleyes:
"I wanted more scary scenes in the cornfield. "
Aye. The previews for the movie effectively ruined the movie.
The “underlying message” was beaten to death. And the ending just blew.
:mad: