Warning: Spoilers will be discussed in this article.
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Proceed at your own caution.
Superhero films are very common today, and while the current trend was started by Blade in the 90’s, it did take a few more years to fully catch on and not be written off as a blip on the radar. During this time period, M. Night Shyamalan released a film that many feel is an underrated masterpiece, Unbreakable. Unbreakable was one of the first films to deconstruct superheroes and show them from a real world perspective, nit not needlessly dark, and still having a point to every scene.
For every action, there is a reaction, everything has an opposite. This is a major theme in this film, as we see with David Dunn and Elijah Price, the latter of whom was born with a disease rendering him extremely fragile, and the former of whom survived a train derailment that killed every other passenger, but left him without injury. Elijah is a comic book fan and is obsessed with finding someone he believes is on the opposite end of the spectrum from himself, which leads him to David. What follows is a journey as Elijah tries to help David reach his full potential, while David just wants an ordinary life, even as his home life is not perfect. But as the story progresses, David reluctantly embraces his role and realizes that he has subconsciously been helping people all his life out of a need to help. He has been miserable and out of focus, because he has not embraced who he was until that point, when he finally steps up to save others.
Unbreakable follows many comic book tropes, but does so intentionally so that they may be discussed. The film was a true examination of the superhero mythos and all they entail, both good and bad. Shyamalan’s twist ending here, helps put that in perspective with the revelations behind Elijah’s actions and the reasons he is seeking out his opposite. The film shows that just as embracing your path can lead you to greatness, pursuing your destiny may not always lead you to outcomes that are desirable., The reveal of the actions taken, show just how serious the results would be in the real world, but it also serves as a look into the life of someone harmed by the world and twisted as a result.
Bruce Willis is often a hit or miss actor, but this was a film in which he fired on all cylinders. Samuel L. Jackson also showed off his love of comics and a very different portrayal than what we were used to seeing from him. Unbreakable is not like most Superhero movies, and not just because it was an early entry in this era of the genre. It still hasn’t quite been matched yet and the upcoming sequel has me very excited to see what will be done next. In many ways, I feel this film was more true to Watchmen, than the actual film of Watchmen. However, another comic also comes to mind, with Superman: Secret Identity. This is a comic about Superman existing in the real world, and I truly feel that Unbreakable is the best way we will ever see a live action adaptation of the comic. This is one that must be watched.