I had a problem with M. Night Shyamalan’s first film, The Sixth Sense. I guessed the "surprise ending" about a quarter of the way through. The first time that kid muttered "I see dead people," I didn’t find it hard to put two and two together. For me, the rest of the film was simply watching clues fall into place.

So, it was only with modest anticipation that I went to see Shyamalan’s second movie, Unbreakable. There’s no doubt that he’s a talented writer and director. He can certainly write a script, draw an audience in with slow and methodical storytelling (though some may call this one too slow), and thing zing ‘em at the end with one of those surprise endings that he apparently likes so much. No, I didn’t get this one until the end. But by then I was only mildly surprised and left wondering, "is this all Shyamalan knows how to do?"

In all fairness I must admit that there are a number of aspects about Unbreakable that I did enjoy. It’s extremely well shot, it does have a fairly intriguing story, the directing is deliberate and sure, and, above all else, it features outstanding acting from Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis and Robin Wright Penn. However, like I said, it’s not a whole lot different than The Sixth Sense. It stars Bruce Willis again, it is about a guy with a secret again, and even has a major character who is a kid again (and who also looks a whole lot like Haley Joel Osment and has three names too boot -- Spencer Treat Clark). It’s a decent movie that musters up a *** rating, but unlike other up-and-coming directors like Paul Thomas Anderson and Darren Aronofsky, this sophomore effort doesn’t expand Shymalan’s horizon like it should.

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