Review of the 2002 Sci-Fi Film Signs
Signs is a decent sci-fi thriller which keeps up suspense (one may say “drags on”) and presents a fairly spellbinding depiction of an alien invasion of Earth. The generic plot slightly resembles that of Steven Spielberg‘s Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Though perhaps not as grand or as epic as Spielberg’s 1977 on-screen invasion, Signs os the least bit less suspenseful or emotional.
Like many other sci-fi films such as Close Encounters, Interstellar, Chicken Little, and even partially Men in Black, the main characters of the movie are placed in a rural North American setting. The film stars the renowned actor/director Mel Gibson, a fantastic and acclaimed Hollywood personality.
He plays the part of Graham Hess well, and Joaquin Phoenix, portraying Graham’s brother Merrill Hess, does just as well. The audience feels these two could genuinely be biological siblings. The storyline has some great character development, particularly seen in both the brothers.
Gibson’s role is that of a farmer. He hasn’t done that before. Oh wait. He has! It was in The Patriot. Anyway, not only that, but this farmer was previously a devout Christian pastor until a number of weeks before the opening of the film.
Graham resigned the position of “man of the cloth” because of the death of his wife in a tragic car accident. She died moments after he had been called to the scene. It broke his heart, and he partially blames God Almighty for this disaster and loss. He also holds some resentment toward the man driving the vehicle which had collided with his wife.
This man is played by M. Night Shyamalan, the director/writer of Signs. Some questions posed in the film are never clearly answered. After a good deal of suspense, we finally get some fulfillment. We see one of the aliens in its true whole form, not just some fingers or a humanoid silhouette. This is more than I can say for the extraterrestrials in Close Encounters.
In the end, after a number of trials for Graham to face and several denials on his part, he repents, relinquishing his anger toward his Creator. Overall, I’d rate Signs 7/10. I would not be opposed to watching it again It’s a piece of artwork I can respect.
This was first published on the home website Of Intellect and Interest.
