Barnes & Noble
M. Night Shyamalan's follow-up to The Sixth Sense is, like its predecessor, an intelligent, eerie thriller that raises as many questions as it does goosebumps. Unbreakable reteams Shyamalan with Bruce Willis, here playing stadium security guard David Dunn-the lone survivor of a catastrophic train wreck-whose lifelong imperviousness to injury and illness intrigues accident-prone comic-book collector Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson). Elijah postulates that David's seeming invulnerability is the sign of an honest-to-goodness superhero. Shyamalan's exploration of this concept is conducted in a deadly earnest manner; there's nothing puerile or campy about it. Willis, whose character is a melancholy soul tormented by the failure of his marriage and the alienation of his son, plays Dunn with subtlety and restraint, and Jackson makes Elijah a pitiable but convincing eccentric whose persuasiveness eventually sways the security guard. Shyamalan sustains a gloomy atmosphere throughout, and a lengthy third-act set piece-in which David tests Elijah's theory amidst horrifying circumstances-is guaranteed to leave your teeth chattering and your knees knocking. Unbreakable is a tribute to the ingenuity of its talented writer-director, who takes an inherently ridiculous notion and makes it plausible by virtue of his masterful storytelling gifts. Shyamlan provides a commentary for the DVD, as does composer John Newton Howard; additionally, there are three featurettes covering aspects of the film's production, and storyboard-to-film comparisons.
All Movie Guide
Actor Bruce Willis and writer/director M. Night Shyamalan reunite after the surprise success of The Sixth Sense for this supernatural thriller. David Dunne (Willis) is taking a train from New York City back home to Philadelphia after a job interview that didn't go well when his car jumps the tracks and collides with an oncoming engine, with David the only survivor among the 131 passengers on board. Astoundingly, David is not only alive, he hardly seems to have been touched. As David wonders what has happened to him and why he was able to walk away, he encounters a mysterious stranger, Elijah Prince (Samuel L. Jackson), who explains to David that there are a certain number of people who are "unbreakable" -- they have remarkable endurance and courage, a predisposition toward dangerous behavior, and feel invincible but also have strange premonitions of terrible events. Is David "unbreakable"? And if he is, what are the physical and psychological ramifications of this knowledge? Unbreakable also stars Robin Wright-Penn as Audrey, David's wife; the supporting cast includes Spencer Treat Clark and Joey Perillo. Mark Deming
Entertainment Weekly
Unbreakable, the somberly fantastic new mystery-thriller written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, is even more of an anxiety-drenched trance-out than The Sixth Sense, his breakthrough hit of 1999. This picture, too, is set in Philadelphia, but it really takes place in a hushed and disquieting meta-movie world where every new shot is a meditation, a sensual piece of the puzzle, and where wonder merges with dread. Owen Gleiberman
New York Post
Unbreakable, writer-director M. Night Shyamalan's dazzling reunion with Bruce Willis confirms he's one of the most brilliant filmmakers working today. Lou Lumenick
Barnes & Noble
M. Night Shyamalan's follow-up to The Sixth Sense is, like its predecessor, an intelligent, eerie thriller that raises as many questions as it does goosebumps. Unbreakable reteams Shyamalan with Bruce Willis, here playing stadium security guard David Dunn -- the lone survivor of a catastrophic train wreck-whose lifelong imperviousness to injury and illness intrigues accident-prone comic-book collector Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson). Elijah postulates that David's seeming invulnerability is the sign of an honest-to-goodness superhero. Shyamalan's exploration of this concept is conducted in a deadly earnest manner; there's nothing puerile or campy about it. Willis, whose character is a melancholy soul tormented by the failure of his marriage and the alienation of his son, plays Dunn with subtlety and restraint, and Jackson makes Elijah a pitiable but convincing eccentric whose persuasiveness eventually sways the security guard. Shyamalan sustains a gloomy atmosphere throughout, and a lengthy third-act set piece-in which David tests Elijah's theory amidst horrifying circumstances-is guaranteed to leave your teeth chattering and your knees knocking. Unbreakable is a tribute to the ingenuity of its talented writer-director, who takes an inherently ridiculous notion and makes it plausible by virtue of his masterful storytelling gifts. Shyamlan provides a commentary for the DVD, as does composer John Newton Howard; additionally, there are three featurettes covering aspects of the film's production, and storyboard-to-film comparisons.
Ed Hulse
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