“Why is it, do you think, that of all the professions in the world you chose protection?”

Unbreakable is essentially a telling of a superhero origin story, but in the most grounded way possible - almost as if a real superhero actually existed in our world. After David Dunn (Bruce Willis), a security guard, is the only survivor of a horrible train crash, coming out with no injuries whatsoever, a man by the name of Elijah Prince (Samuel L. Jackson), who goes by the name of Mr. Glass, because of a disease he has that makes his bones incredibly fragile, contacts him. He grew up reading comic book stories and believes that David may, in fact, be some sort of human with unnatural abilities, a superhero, if you will.

This movie completely blew me away. I was not familiar with your game, M. Night Shyamalan. The only previous movie of his that I had seen was Signs, which I was a big fan of, but I wouldn’t say it was nearly as good as this. This was one of the most surprising movies that I’ve seen this year, and already one of my favorites. It was such an unpredictable movie all the way through, and speaking of that, I didn’t expect it to be as much of a mystery as it was. It wasn’t even one of those movies where I was guessing what was going to happen next and ended up being wrong, but one of those movies where I just had absolutely no clue at all what was in store for the story.

I was hooked on the mystery and what was really going on with David. I love that the film kind of teases you several times with little things that hint at what and who David really is. Every time you get even just a little answer, it’s satisfying and earned. I love all the scenes where he is testing his abilities, as they kind of go against the grain of typical superhero movies. Instead of a lot of other superhero movies where you kind of already know what they're really made of before the actual character figures it out, you’re figuring it out along with David.

The pacing was remarkable as well. It was perfectly structured and edited, with not a scene that needed to be removed and nothing whatsoever that needed to be added. I think the reason why the pacing was as good as it was is that all of the scenes matter. Even scenes that feel insignificant at first end up being pivotal to the story and progression of the story. I love it when movies do that, by the way - when you find yourself asking why a scene is even in the movie, only to sooner or later figure out that it was, in fact, a scene in the film for a reason. Even in the scenes that feel insignificant, they also have tiny details that, not even kidding, are also pivotal later on. It’s absolutely incredible.

With a movie starring Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson, I didn’t expect the performances to be anything less than spectacular, and spectacular they were. I felt like I was journeying alongside David the whole way through, and the family drama that surrounded everything else that was happening was completely believable with the way he portrayed it. Elijah, on the other hand, was amazingly played by Samuel L. Jackson. He was such an interesting and compelling character, but also a character with mysterious layers to him that really intrigued me. I never knew what was really going on with him. Spencer Treat Clark, whom I had recognized but couldn’t figure out what he was in before (I later figured out that it was Gladiator), doesn’t have a huge amount of screentime as Joseph Dunn, David’s son, but I was honestly amazed by his performance. We definitely don’t have child actors like this anymore.

The family drama was also a nice little addition to the story. It probably didn’t really need to be there, but it was definitely warranted and added a lot of emotion. It’s not a huge part of the film at the end of the day, as it really only becomes largely prominent in little specks sprinkled throughout the movie, but I was very compelled by it. David just wants to be a good father; however is greatly troubled by what’s going on, and is also having a hard time with his relationship with his wife, played by Robin Wright. Everything revolving around the history of their relationship was yet another mysterious aspect thrown in there, and was also another part of the movie that gave incredibly satisfying and earned resolutions as they try to restore their broken relationship.

As you get further into the movie and start to learn more answers, the tension really goes up. Unbreakable doesn’t really have any suggestive content when it comes to violence and sex, but I could easily see this being rated R just because of how tense it becomes later in the story. You get several answers, yes, but there are even more sorts of things in the background that keep you intrigued and on the edge of your seat. David’s “hero” moment is by far the most intense part of the entire film.

The last thing I’ll talk about, strictly when it comes to the story, would have to be that absolutely unbelievable ending. There was a point in time where I thought the movie was going to end, and even that would have been a great ending, but then it went on for a bit longer. At first, I was worried that it was going to drag out a bit, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. I’m not going to go into any detail whatsoever, but the final “big” ending has to be one of the greatest endings I’ve ever seen in a film. I was absolutely in awe. If you’ve never seen this film before, please do your best to avoid spoilers for the ending, as I did, and it’s an ending that will probably stick with me forever.

The final part of this section of the review is where I’ll talk about the cinematography. It’s a fantastic-looking film, and the 4K edition that I watched looked spectacular. What I love most about the cinematography, though, is how it plays into the story. There are a lot of scenes with rain in them that, and for the final time, I’m not even joking, actually have a place and play into the story as we figure out later on, and aren’t just there to make the film look pretty. I don’t recall many movies that integrated the cinematography into the story this much.

I don’t have any negatives, but I guess the one mixed thing I would say is that there is one scene with a gun that stretched my believability quite a bit. It’s not egregious in any way, but it does feel pretty unrealistic, though it does play an important role in the narrative, so I see why it was put in there. I just think there could have been a different scene instead that had done the same thing for the story.

Unbreakable entertained me, shocked me, and inspired me, and it’s one of the best first-time watches I’ve seen all year. It’s perhaps one of the most underrated movies out there, and I would highly recommend giving it a watch.