The dark hero in the “security” cloak creeps up behind the evil “orange man”. He raises a single arm and swiftly wraps it around the villain’s throat. Surprised, the “orange man” quickly charges backwards, crashing our hero into the wall… but the hero does not fall. On the contrary, he keeps his balance and tightens his chokehold even more. Gasping for air, the “orange man” repeatedly bashes our hero into the wall over and over again until its surface is covered in cracks and huge dents. But our hero never waivers. The continuous bashing doesn’t even faze him, for he can’t be hurt. He is… UNBREAKABLE.
Please forgive me for traveling back to that little piece of nostalgia in my noggin. I just wanted to begin this article by sharing with you one of the greatest theater-going moments I have ever experienced. It was on a Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving in 2000 when I took my now wife to the opening of M. Night Shyamalan’s UNBREAKABLE. And I will always remember the distinct gushing of enthralled goose-bumps that ran up and down my arms as the scene described above was unfolding. I’m guessing The Arrow got a similar feeling as well, judging by his glowing review here. I actually believe that it is M. Night’s favorite of his flicks as well, however…
The majority of filmgoers apparently did not share our sentiment. Those expecting another SIXTH SENSE as opposed to a brilliant “real life superhero origin” were put off, causing UNBREAKABLE to fade from multiplexes and memories much faster than it should have. M. Night even had a grand plan to create a trilogy, but was so hurt by the overall response that he buried all his ideas… until, hopefully, now!
In a recent interview, Mr. Shyamalan discussed why he may be having a change of heart. Have a look at what he said when asked about UNBREAKABLE: “I believe in that movie, I love that movie, and I should just go start writing the second one… I’ve still been thinking about it a lot and wonder if it’s too late… UNBREAKABLE is the comic book thing I should do — I keep coming back to that.”
Yes, it has been a while, but I could NEVER say no to more UNBREAKABLE! I hope M. Night was serious.
To end this article, I’ll quickly give you my reasons why I still think a sequel is still a good idea:
1. Superheroes are anything but dead in the current movie market. Now that everyone knows that UNBREAKABLE is a superhero story, they should be more receptive to it.
2. Let’s not forget that UNBREAKABLE did make roughly $95 million. Nowadays, sequels whose predecessors made much less get greenlit (the first HELLBOY made only $59 million!).
3. It may be fair to say that M. Night is now in a bit of a creative slump commercially. I feel that getting back to an old subject that’s so near and dear to his heart has the potential to bring forth something truly incredible.
4. I believe that the fan base for UNBREAKABLE has grown over the years with many feeling that it is still M. Night’s best film.
I’m going to stop right there. This article is getting way too long. I’m sure the chances of seeing David Dunn and Elijah Price (below) again are slim. However, I’d like to close with a quote from Mr. Glass, himself: “These are mediocre times. People are starting to lose hope. It’s hard for many to believe there are extraordinary things inside themselves as well as others… I hope you can keep an open mind.” Maybe someday we will see UNBREAKABLE 2.
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