Reviews

Very rarely does a film have an equal amount of good and bad points. Usually I can say 'I liked that film' or 'I didnt like that film' in varying degrees. With Signs I couldnt decide and ended up liking some and loathing others. **SPOILERS FOLLOW** On the good side first - The trailers led me to expect a film along the lines of a conspiracy theory with a is it/isnt it aliens plot throughout. Very early on though we establish that they are aliens and for me we got to see a more realistic version of Independence Day. I also liked the fact that we were treated to an opinion that there may actually be no such thing as God. So rarely do us atheists get our say in films - even in Contact we were in the wrong! The direction was excellent once more. I like a film that treats its viewers with enough intellegence so that if it doesnt show you something you can let your imagination work it out. From reading the other reviews I can see that this doesnt always work as some people prefer to be shown every detail rather than use their imagination. Final good point - nice to see Mel Gibson not overacting for a change, if anything he underplayed it to produce one of his best roles ever but unfortunately not one of his best films. Bad points - Number one out of the blocks which follows from above is the fact that in the end the 'non believer' turns into a 'believer' once more and everything is right in the world. Perhaps one day we can have a film without everything turning out right because of God. I believe what Mel's character says in that we are alone and it is what we all do that makes a difference NOW because this is all we have. I found the soppy part with the wife a bit distracting that late in the film and her 'vision' of the future a bit convenient - I'm sure they could have found another way to work out that water kills aliens as sure as paper kills stone. Finally I didnt like it's pace. It was slow for the most part but I cant knock that too much as it added a bit of suspense. I'm just glad I saw it on DVD and not at the cinema. Overall, worth a watch but don't expect to be blown away. 6/10.

I really wanted to like this film but found it difficult to enjoy for any long period (which this film has aplenty). As other reviewers on this site have made it is split into three acts (or four if you count what I considered a prologue) and each had its own good and bad points which I will try to review without spoilers. The prologue sets the scene - fair enough, can't complain there. The first act is a bit wishy-washy as HJO's robot character is intergrated into his 'new family'. You can't help but see Spielbergs E.T. element in this act as it tries to range from emotional to humourous in small outbursts. Some bits did make me chuckle but probably because the rest of it was so dreary. You keep looking at the length of the filming thinking 'I hope this gets better'. Had it not been for Teddy I may have fallen asleep (you'll see who he is when you watch it). The second act is David's daring (?) and dangerous (??) trek to escape the clutches of those who want to break him into little pieces and with the help of Jude Law, search for the answer to turn him into a real boy. A weird mix of a Pinochio story line, a poor copy of a Blade Runner back-drop and just about every other sci-fi film you've ever seen. The special effects are superb in this bit and Mr Law gets a chance to shine but once more the storyline lets it down. David becomes so annoying with his obsessive search for the blue fairy you begin to think that the flesh fair had a point. And then without warning or even managing to round off the second act properly we are thrust (courtesy of a notice '2000 years later') into act three. Simply a poor attempt to remake the mastery of the final scenes of 2001 A Space Odessy - and Odd it is. I don't know the full history but if this is the bit that Spielberg finished for Kubrick then it shows. If this was done by Kubrick then I expect better. It leaves you with the same 'whats going on' feeling as 2001 only not in such a good way. I find this bit hard to describe and can only summarise with '?'. To recap the film:- Storyline - Good idea but poorly delivered 4/10 Script - Average but annoying in places 5/10 Acting - HJO and Jude did the best they could 8/10 Music - Effective and unobtrusive 8/10 Effects - Impressive but seen better 8/10 Teddy - 10/10 Length - Tooooo long 3/10 Overall - 6/10. Saved by the effects.