Before Unbreakable hit the theatres at the start of the millennium, we didn’t know exactly what to expect.

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Manoj Nelliyattu Shyamalan had delighted horror movie-goers with his disturbing yet moving picture The Sixth Sense. Where would he go from here? For starters, M. Night, as he is known by many, decided to recast Bruce Willis as the main protagonist. Tagging along with him, an old acquaintance and a phenomenal actor: Samuel L. Jackson.

Having shared the set of Pulp Fiction, and joined forces for my favorite Die Hard movie, the two already possessed a great chemistry. Couple this with solid performances given by Robin Wright and Spencer Treat Clark, playing the divorcing wife and son of the protagonist, and as far as the cast goes this movie is rock solid. It also delivers on the aesthetics, with great photography and its palette being based on blues and grays, which gives the movie a very distinct urban and grounded feeling, while also highlighting the dreamier aspects and the brighter colors. The soundtrack, composed by James Newton Howard, gives us a sense of foreboding but also of struggle and hope. Everything fits the movie perfectly. Including the camera work.

In fact, at the start of Unbreakable just after a still shot detailing the tragic birth of a baby with broken arms, we are treated to a great slide sequence somewhat reminiscent of Tarkovsky’s Stalker although admittedly not as refined. We see David Dunn, a security guard, sitting on a train returning from NY. What’s unique about the introduction, however, is that the POV comes from a small child sitting in front of him. The child’s gaze then shifts to a lady who decides to sit next to him. In a great display of show-don’t-tell, Shyamalan conveys a lot of info about David. He is married, judging by the wedding ring, yet he is unhappy with his relationship, seeing how he puts the ring in his pocket. A flirt ensues, but the woman finds his attention a little off-putting and decides to move to another seat.

The attempted adultery isn’t the only thing that goes wrong.

Soon enough we learn that the train has crashed. David survives, unscathed. This stroke of luck should be a reason to celebrate. The problem is that David is the only survivor of the wreck. Here, we are treated to another perfect example of show-don’t-tell. We see him joining his wife and son as they exit the hospital. A crowd of people is there waiting to hear any news about their relatives and friends. The scene is chilling, without resorting to excessive drama. David is alive and well, but he has to face the guilt of making it out while everybody else is hanging onto the vain hope that they too will be able to rejoice in the presence of their loved ones.

After the funeral service held for the victims, David finds a card, left by a certain Elijah Price, played by Jackson. It turns out that he was the baby shown at the beginning. He suffers from a condition known as Type I Osteogenesis Imperfecta, a genetic disorder which affects bones and makes them brittle. We see him as a teenager, struggling with his fragility and fears. He tells his mother, played by actress and writer Charlayne Woodard, that the other kids call him Glass and that he doesn’t want to move because even the slightest accident may cause permanent injury. She has none of that, though, and manages to lure him outside with a surprise. On a bench, the boy finds a purple package containing what will be his lifelong passion: a comic book.

We then see adult Elijah commenting on superhero tropes and on the original artwork for the cover of the very same comic, displayed in his luxurious gallery. The client agrees to buy it, but when he mentions that it’s a present for his child, Elijah throws him out by telling him that he is selling art and that the piece is highly valuable. When David, accompanied by his son Joseph, meets him the eccentric collector gives him a speech about the importance of sequential art, from Egyptian hieroglyphs all the way to the contemporary age. He then tells him about his condition, and how he has been seeking an “opposite” individual. Someone incredibly strong, immune to diseases, and who can survive where others would perish. He believes that superheroes may be an exaggeration based on real people with incredible abilities. He also thinks that Dunn may fit the profile, but he is uncertain and somewhat skeptical. Of course, David doesn’t want to believe him and he leaves the building.

This scene alone is also worthy of analysis. The way Elijah explains comic books is absolutely brilliant and it shows that Shyamalan knows and appreciates them as an art form, not just a mere source of escapism. What stands out, however, is the choice to not have Price be convinced that David is a hero. Therefore, both characters are skeptics and are always confronting one another and, mostly, themselves. David struggles with his family, unable to accept himself, waking up sad every morning and uncertain as to where the future will lead him. He also faces the fact that he has well-kept secrets. His wife doesn’t know that he pretended to injure his hand during a car accident, abandoning football forever, as an excuse to make his wife happy. Meanwhile, Joseph wants his dad to acknowledge the fact that he really is the one that Elijah seeks, and goes as far as pointing a gun at him to prove that he’s invincible.

By now it is clear that the movie is all about superheroes. I will not recap the whole experience, but I will definitely touch on a few outstanding scenes. One of them is definitely the one where David Dunn is weight lifting. Not only is it a great reveal about his true strength, but it also shows how he and his son start to bond, whereas before they were distant. Another great moment is the one where David stands in the middle of a busy station hall and by touching others, he has visions of their mischiefs, all shot in black and white with elements of color much akin to Frank Miller’s Sin City. We see someone attacking a black man, shouting “Go back to Africa!”, we see a rapist, and then we finally get a glimpse of the villain that David will have to face. A psychotic and sadistic janitor who has broken into a family home and murdered the husband.

Wearing a rain poncho (a great choice for his “costume”), David enters the assailed home. He finds the dying wife, tied to the radiator, and her two children. As he’s about to free them, he gets attacked by the janitor and thrown down into a pool. Here, Dunn has to face his only true weakness: water. As he’s about to drown, the kids help him back up. David then proceeds to fight the killer and he comes out victorious. The fight alone is visceral and brutal, yet it also shows the protagonist’s nobility and his birth as a true protector of the weak.

His purpose is now fulfilled. When he wakes up the next day, the sadness has gone. He has also managed to restore his marriage. By far, though, the noteworthy part of the family breakfast is a touching scene where David shows a sulking Joseph a newspaper while bringing a finger to his lips, asking for silence. The son sees that the headline is about a mysterious hero saving two children from a killer. This is scene is incredibly intense, given that we have seen the previous friction between the two.

Unbreakable wraps up and delivers its twist. As David goes to shake his mentor’s hand, he learns the awful truth: Elijah Price is the true villain. While the janitor was one of the baddies, he was only the muscle. Elijah, on the other hand, is the brains behind it all. He was the one who made sure that the train would crash, as well as blowing up a plane and burning down a hotel in previous attempts to find his counterpart. But to him, all of this was worthy, because he is now aware of his true purpose and he has made sure that Dunn carries out his own.

This twist is ingenious for multiple reasons. Not only does it give a much greater depth to Mr. Glass, it is also foreshadowed so many times, but I only noticed the hints upon third viewing. The first subtle stroke of Genius comes from the funeral service. The victims’ photographs are set against a purple panel, signifying that Mr. Glass, who wears purple as a reminder of his mother’s gifts, is behind their deaths. The second and most evident piece of evidence comes from the fact that, throughout the movie, he keeps saying that there have been ‘three disasters’ but Dunn was the only survivor. Surely the US alone has had way more tragic events than that. By the time the reveal is made it is clear what he was actually referencing, and upon further viewing, it makes their interactions even more chilling.

So, aside from the points I already made, why do I think that Unbreakable is the best superhero movie of all time?

In order to understand my point, I have to first compare Unbreakable with its peers. By now, we have had many comic book adaptations and movies inspired by the medium, some more successful than others. While titles like Deadpool, Spider-Man, and Darkman aren’t afraid to go along with the wackiness that is often found in these type of stories, most superhero films seem to reject their origins and opt for a “realistic” route.

Cristopher Nolan’s Batman is a prime example of this trend. While most people loved that trilogy, I would beg to differ. Sure, Heath Ledger’s Joker is a great villain and a memorable performance, but when it comes to the actual movies, I find them somewhat inconsistent. The realistic approach is fine. The problem lies in the fact that, despite intentions, the supposed groundedness clashes against the fact that we are still dealing with a millionaire dressed as a bat fighting clowns and scarecrows. Batman is a great anti-hero but a terrible choice for a realistic movie. Man of Steel also tried to give us a serious and believable tone. It tried too hard, however, because it got drowned by whining characters and washed out photography that makes every scene look dull, despite having some great action moments.

Here lies the true problem that plagues these movies and that Unbreakable avoided successfully many years prior. It’s not just about the mixed and incomplete tone. It’s mostly about the characters. You see when I watch Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice I cannot feel 1% of the investment that I feel when I’m watching Unbreakable. That is because the supposed heroes are a bunch of depressing and idiotic misanthropes. Bruce Wayne cannot fool me with his charity. He is still the Dark Knight who speaks like a four-packs-a-day smoker.

Same goes for Clark Kent. Behind those glasses hides Kal El, a messianic alien who considers himself above the humanity which he seems to despise more than love. The final confrontation with Zod is proof of this sentiment. The rest of the characters are there to simply reaffirm their greatness, adding nothing more to the plot, with the villains providing a good enough excuse to deliver blows and wreck stuff. They are as memorable as a drunken blackout. This doesn’t mean that superheroes shouldn’t be serious, but it needs to be done right.

Unbreakable does it right. I care about this film because I care about the people it portrays. Everyone here brings their best and show us the humanity that they carry within. The relationship between David and his family is heartfelt and often moving. Mr. Glass is not your typical one-dimensional villain. On the other hand, his backstory is genuinely beautiful and provides us with so much insight that, even when we learn about his terrifying actions, we still feel pity for him.

The relationship between Price and Dunn is a symbiotic one. They cannot exist without each other. As an origin story, it works perfectly. The hero is born because of the villain. Without him, there would be no one to bring hope back and fight for it. By not attaching itself to a particular franchise, Unbreakable manages to give us a truly believable experience because the characters are believable and likable. It’s a movie about struggling with our identity, finding ourselves and understanding our purpose in life, as well as a passionate homage to comic books, their art and how they can teach us something valuable about the readers.

I could, of course, comment on Unbreakable‘s surprise sequel and the upcoming closing chapter, but I’ll leave that for another editorial.