It’s hard to believe that ‘superhero’ movies ever existed before Marvel’s ‘shared universe,’ but, before bunches of superpowered heroes flew around New York throwing nukes at alien armies, was ‘Unbreakable.’ To use modern day terminology, it could be best described as an ‘origin movie.’
However, instead of this origin movie explaining an existing superhero’s beginnings, M. Night Shyamalan (back in the year 2000 when every one of his films was Box Office gold) brings us an original take on a person with extra special powers. Bruce Willis plays David Dunn, by all accounts an ordinary man who gets caught up in a train crash which kills everyone on board apart from him. This would be weird enough, but then he’s immediately contacted by Elijah Price (the ever-awesome Samuel L Jackson) who claims that David is possessed with the ability never to get hurt by anything.
Now, if you’re so used to superhero movies where it’s wall-to-wall computer-generated action then you’re probably not going to enjoy this. It’s the very definition of a ‘slow burner.’ In fact (and I hope that this doesn’t come as a ‘spoiler’) there isn’t a single shoot-out, car chase or ensemble cast of superheroes coming to the aid of our protagonist. What you have here is a very ‘grounded’ take on a person who discovers that they aren’t quite as normal as they first thought they were.
Samuel L Jackson is always good in whatever he does and whereas Bruce Willis' career is more 'hit and miss,' this is a time when the sheer chemistry between them shines through and both are a joy to watch.
I enjoyed it at the time and, in these days of over-the-top Marvel movies, I still think it deserves its place up there with the best superhero movies, even if this is so low key’ you may be pressed to put it into that genre.
9/10 almost as perfect as The Godfather
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