Signs

Can I just give this film a 4.0 based on Tak Fujimoto's cinematography? I wish I could, because he does deserve kudos. There's so little movement in the film. The camera stays in one place and the characters are positioned within the frame of the camera, more often than not centered, which gives you this feeling of both space and doom. Unfortunately, great cinematography does not a movie make. (Case in point, watch Barry Lyndon. On second thought, don't watch it.) The story is actually quite good for about 1/3 of the film -- scary, funny, soulful -- but it falls apart once the aliens actually appear in the skies overhead. Aliens have invaded the earth, and one ex-preacher and his family are determined to survive them. There's no way you can't know how the story is going to end, but I didn't expect to be so irritated by Mel Gibson's attempts at emotion. He's famous for his screwed-up-I'm-not-going-to-cry face, and I'll be the first to admit that I was awed by that in the first Lethal Weapon, but it seems that he's really pushing it lately. I suppose you could watch the film for the cinematography and for Joaquin Phoenix's phenomenal acting (if there is a soulful center to the film, it resides in him), but if I were you, I'd pass.

year: 2002
length: 106 min.
rating: 3.0
IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0286106/combined