Toronto

Signs goes to show just how over-dependent Hollywood has become on special effects. If a movie about an alien invasion can be pulled off with a bare minimum of effects and make sixty million bucks in its opening weekend, it kind of makes movies like Independence Day and Men In Black just look silly (wait, they ARE silly) The latest offering by genius writer/director/producer M Night Shamalamadingdong is probably the worst of the three Hollywood films he is responsible for, starting with The Sixth Sense, but it is still a refreshing and thoroughly entertaining flick. Mel Gibson is better than usual here, but the real show stealers are Rory Culkin and Abigail Breslin who play Gibson's kids, and Joaquin Phoenix as Gibson's good-hearted but just a bit dopey younger brother. As with Shimalaya's previous flicks, we feel like we are on a journey into the unknown (assuming you don't watch too many previews) His script is well-written, his directorial skills are as good as ever, and he's even a pretty good actor, as his cameo in this movie goes to show. Signs builds and builds and builds to a tense, earily terrifying climax but somehow left me a bit unsatisfied. However, it does provide room for thought, and is worth a second viewing to check out all the details once you know the ending. M Night Shoryuken is still at the top of his game and doesn't show any sign of coming down (no pun intended) Now, let's see him do a time travel movie.

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