Signs: It’s not like they didn’t warn us.

The signs are here
Signs


Starring Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix, Rory Culkin, Abigail Braslin and cameo appearence by writer/director M. Night Shayamalan.
Rated M

Reviewer :: The Big Irish Git

The strange, intriguing, sometimes beautiful and always mystical phenomenon of crop signs – patterns drawn in crops, where some plants in a field of corn are bent (but not broken) in such a way as to make a distinct pattern or symbol – are nothing new. The phenomenon has been with us for a long time.

Some say they are just an elaborate hoax.

There are others, however, who believe these crop symbols are a sign that we are not alone in this vast universe and that our neighbours are trying to make contact.

To my knowledge, no one anywhere has ever proven they are just pranks, no one has ever been caught drawing the symbols, and no one has ever bragged to their mates over a pint or three that it was they who was responsible for the elaborate and highly technical crop drawings.

So what do they mean? What, in fact, are they? Who (or what) made them? And why?

Signs explores one possible answer. It turns out that the symbols, after all, are a sign from the heavens that we are not alone in the universe. While the strictest translation of the symbols is never explained, it becomes quickly apparent that they are some kind of navigational aid for extraterrestrials.

If Earth is ever visited by aliens, there are two distinct categories they can fall in to, apparently. Either they will be curious intergalactic adventurers, keen on knowledge, science and universal betterment, or they will be hostile, intent on exploiting our planet for their own commercial (or similar) self interest.

In this case, unfortunately, it turns out that the visitors are here bent on exploitation rather than exploration. They have come in vast numbers to harvest, not our crops, but us – human beings – for what purpose we never find out.

Signs, however, is not really about the invasion or the resulting war of the worlds.

It is a movie about one man’s struggle to raise two young kids after the death of his wife in a freakish road accident.

In real terms, Signs is a powerful movie that works on many levels. It delivers a good, solid story line that puts frail, flawed, everyday characters in an a wholly believable and powerfully extraordinary situation. It is also a sci-fi thriller that, in the very first minutes, grabs your stomach, wrenches it into knots and holds it there for nigh on two hours.

Not that it is a particularly horrific or frightening movie. It just raises its audience to a level of nervous tension so very, very early and never lets them relax long enough to feel comfortable again.

Signs also boasts one of the most powerful acting ensembles I’ve had the pleasure to watch for a long time. Mel Gibson is simply brilliant in a reserved, understated role, quite unlike any he has done before. Quite possibly an Oscar-contending performance.
Culkin is terrific in his debut performance. Unlike his brother, Rory will have the distinct advantage of being remembered for a debut performance of substance.

As cute kids go, Braslin probably wasn’t as cute to look at as some others before her, but again, with a performance of such substance behind her, this little star is surely destined to shine.

Phoenix, as the well meaning but only slightly less than saintly brother, adds a small countermeasure of humour and irreverence to an otherwise puritan small-town family.

But it’s together as a group that they work so brilliantly – an ensemble constellation.

Although it is nothing like The Sixth Sense or Seven or Fight Club, Signs is one of those movies that marks itself as truly memorable because it is so surprisingly different to anything else before it. Not really surprising, however, that it came from the same writer/director that brought us The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable.

This, his third instalment, puts him soundly back on the A-list following the disappointment of his second effort.

The Big Irish Git rates this movie 5 clovers