Widowed ex-reverend Graham Hess at first shrugs off the crop circles in his cornfield as kids playing pranks, but it soon becomes apparent that they are tied to a large-scale global invasion by aliens. Stars Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix, Rory Culkin, and Abigail Breslin. Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan and released in 2002.
I don't mind Signs as much as I probably should. There's a lot of religious overtones and a plot of interconnection that seems to be a half-hearted answer to "why does God let bad things happen to good people?" Its aliens have too many magical powers, and it has a twist - that water is toxic to the aliens - which is pretty stupid. Aliens invade a planet mostly covered by water, populated by creatures largely composed of water, where it is prone to rain, and devise or use no means of protecting themselves even though they're clearly technologically advanced? Signs was a film that would've really benefited from the loss of its twist and its insistence on trying to be clever. Narrowing the focus of an alien invasion to a single isolated family is a cool idea that came very close to working. It's got a pretty good cast (I still think Gibson's a good actor in spite, or perhaps because, of his very obvious psychosis), it has moments of high tension, and offers what is at first an interesting take on a classic premise.
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