Directed by: M. Night Shyamalan
Written by: M. Night Shyamalan
Starring: Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Robin Wright, Spencer Treat Clark
Rating: [4/5]
The overabundance of superhero films allows for a level of dissection and builds appreciation for those that stand out in their own unique ways. Even those that sit on a completely different plane from what the common person thinks of when looking at this genre. Unbreakable certainly stands out amongst the rest and makes for a moody and thoughtful story about two men discovering their potential and flaws.
After being the sole survivor of a horrific train derailment, security guard David Dunn (Bruce Willis) gets approached by comic book enthusiast Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson), who suffers from osteogenesis imperfecta, a disease that makes his bones incredibly fragile. As Elijah makes David aware of the possibility of him having a superpower of an invulnerable body, he begins to look into his past and what it means for his future.
Everything about Unbreakable centers on the stories of heroes and villains typically seen in comic book films but it certainly feels different. With this film seeing its release in 2000 before the big boom of films came out to the monoculture we see today, it evokes a different feeling and carries a different punch to what we take in as an audience. A story that feels so incredibly grounded with powers that do not involve flying or laser eyes, we simply follow a man who simply cannot get hurt. As David recollects he has never been sick following a specific date and the man just survived a train derailment where he not only lived when everyone else did not but he came away from it completely unscathed. Simply impossible which presents the reality of him having supernatural powers as a true reality.
Therefore this feature becomes about a story of one man coming to the self-realization of what this means for him. Already working as a security guard where he tries to seek out bad actors and protects the average person, he begins to mull over whether or not he can use these powers for the greater good and what it would mean to operate as a vigilante. All of this transpires under the close eye and vigilance of Elijah Price as a comic book enthusiast and the conversations they hold amongst each other allow for the larger philosophical discussion this feature seeks to hold about the idea of heroes and villains making for quite the enriching experience.
With the mixture of optimism of heroism, this feature generally carries a fairly melancholic feeling to it as these characters navigate their lives. David must contend with the potential of his marriage failing right before him where he’s essentially waiting on whether or not his wife will make the final decision to seal their fate. He has this hanging over his head for the majority of the film. On the other hand, Elijah deals with the reality of his unfortunate disease which makes living his life incredibly difficult on a daily basis. The ease with which his bones can break would terrify anyone to even step outside, which definitely informs why he lives quite the isolated life and finds comfort in comic books to the degree he refuses to sell one of his pieces to a man hoping to purchase it for their son. As if buying art for a child indicates the buyer looks down on the art form, but this ultimately serves as the only thing Elijah has going for him adding to the inherent sadness. This appears not only in the lives they live but also in how Eduardo Serra shoots this feature in Philadelphia.
As much as Bruce Willis sits at the forefront of this feature while we go on this journey of self-realization and what he can accomplish with these powers, the truly dazzling star is Samuel L. Jackson. What he manages to encapsulate as Elijah through his mystery and how he ultimately pulls all of the strings in this feature only continues to highlight the immense talent this man has always possessed. Cold, calculated, and thoroughly captivating throughout, he equally captures the sadness and zeal of this man finding a sense of meaning to his life for the first time with Elijah’s interactions with David. This works as quite the two-hander but Samuel L. Jackson well and truly shines here.
On the ride of M. Night Shyamalan’s roller-coaster career, Unbreakable certainly sits atop the peaks as he crafts something incredibly ahead of its time and insightful. Quite small in scale relative to what this genre typically provides but it allows us to get into the nitty-gritty of these characters and the framework of processing everything happening around them. Shyamalan utilizes one of the better twists in his career to such a strongly dramatic effect all culminating in something utilizing the very best of the cast members involved.
Films with Josh 
