‘Signs’ scares, ‘Reign of Fire’ romps, disgusted with ‘Disguise’

Performances enhance suspense in ‘Signs’

My appreciation for the talents of writer-director M. Night

Shyamalan, began while viewing his Oscar-winning suspense thriller,

“The Sixth Sense,” in which a child tormented by ghosts is helped by

a psychologist. Becoming an overnight commercial success certainly

has its drawbacks; sadly, it’s not only the studio heads that expect

a repeat performance but the audience as well.

Consequently, I was disappointed in his follow-up, “Unbreakable,”

about the making of a comic book-style super hero, for the simple

reason that I anticipated the same formula. I projected the

on-the-edge-of-your-seat suspense of “Sense” and a spectacular twist

of an ending onto “Unbreakable.”

Nevertheless, my belief in and respect for the young director did

not wane. Shyamalan’s latest film, “Signs,” is not a disappointment.

What can you expect? Well, don’t expect too many sleight-of-hand

tricks or a surprise twist ending. Do expect a well-crafted film with

strong characters, clever dialogue, Hitchcockian suspense and sparse

special effects.

“Signs” is about a middle-class family living on a farm in rural

Pennsylvania, that wakes up one morning to find crop circles in the

cornfield. What they believe to be the creations of local pranksters

is soon revealed as an alien invasion.

WARNING: I’m about to reveal some movie details.

As the crop circles start appearing around the world and

television coverage shows home videos of strange sightings, Graham

Hess (Mel Gibson), widower and father of two, along with his brother,

Merrill (Joaquin Phoenix), try to shield the children from the

alarming news.

Meanwhile, Morgan (Rory Culkin), the eldest child, is intrigued by

the unworldly clicking transmissions intercepted by an old baby

monitor. Wearing a thought-protective Hershey’s Kiss cap, he uses an

outdated book found at the small general store to educate his family

on the possible outcomes of an invasion.

The last act of the movie finds the family trapped in the cellar,

surrounded by aliens. Graham, a former minister who lost his faith

with the loss of his wife, must now protect his family. And to do so,

he must rediscover his faith.

Performances from Gibson, Phoenix, Culkin and Abigail Breslin (Bo)

are understated, natural and believable -- and atypical of most

suspense movies because these characters respond to fear not by

screaming and running away, but by standing their ground.

Influenced by Hitchcock, Shyamalan realizes that it’s what you

don’t see that makes a movie scary. We catch only partial glimpses,

shadowy images or reflections of the intruder. The family stands

barricaded inside the foyer as scratching of claws, pounding of walls

and shadowy images encircle them. Even eerie “Psycho”-like music is

heard over the opening credits, and Shyamalan makes a cameo

appearance as the local veterinarian.

Shyamalan’s inventive storytelling, while complex, conceals

minimalism. The film’s main plot of a man rediscovering his faith is

straightforward. Most scenes are filmed at a single location, the

farmhouse. There are only four primary actors (five, if you count the

barely seen alien presence). And even the alien’s rudimentary

inability to open a pantry door, which could be viewed as a plot

flaw, may be a fundamental way to show that our fears of the unknown

often outweigh reality.

There’s a lot more to discover in “Signs” than the double meaning

of its title. Just as the ingenious Shyamalan has designed, I suspect

you’ll laugh, cry and flinch at all the orchestrated moments.

“Signs” is rated PG-13 for some frightening moments.

* JULIE LOWRANCE is a Costa Mesa resident who works at a Newport

Beach overnight aircraft advertising agency.

Dragons rule world

in ‘Reign of Fire’

Sometimes the previews for a movie do more harm than good.

Touchstone’s new dragon movie, “Reign of Fire,” is a good example of

that. Images of guns and a muscle-bound Matthew McConaughey flying

through the air with an ax immediately portray the film as something

to avoid at all costs.

I’ve always been a big fan of medieval fantasy movies, and after

the great adaptations of “Harry Potter” and “The Lord of the Rings,”

I was hoping that the genre would finally gain some acceptance in

society. But the previews led me to believe that “Reign of Fire”

would be a movie closer to the hideous “Dungeons & Dragons” movie

than the two latest success stories.

Although the story has several holes in the plot, it is a rather

enjoyable movie with some incredible special effects that make the

dinosaurs from Jurassic Park look like an episode of “Barney and

Friends.”

The movie starts off quickly as our hero, 12-year-old Quinn, goes

to visit his mother, who is the engineer building a new tunnel system

in London.

Almost immediately, they burrow into an underground chamber where

a massive dragon has been sleeping since the Ice Age.

Twenty years later, after dragons have repopulated the Earth and

destroyed everything in their path, we find Quinn (Christian Bale) is

now the leader of a small remnant of humanity taking refuge in an

ancient fortress

Times are bleak as their food resources have begun to dwindle, and

even the dragons are turning on one another after having destroyed so

much of the planet.

Out of the gloom comes a self-proclaimed dragon slayer named Van

Zan (McConaughey) with his small army, tank and helicopter. The

English inhabitants are reluctant to trust this newcomer because they

have seen many marauders, and as Quinn’s best friend, Creedy (Gerard

Butler), says, “There’s only one thing worse than a dragon,

Americans.”

Sensing something in Van Zan, Quinn allows him and his men to

enter the fortress.

After a power struggle between the men, the gung-ho American sets

out to take on the father of all dragons, which ends in the dragon

wiping out his men and demolishing the fortress. Quinn then finds

himself heading back to London to take on the very dragon that his

mother released 20 years earlier.

Overall, “Reign of Fire” is a decent movie filled with just enough

action to keep the audience entertained. The acting of McConaughey as

the cigar-chomping, hard-core, almost insane military man is executed

superbly as he pushes his character to the outskirts of plausibility

and plays wonderfully off of Christian Bale’s portrayal of the

tormented Englishman.

If you’re a big fan of medieval movies or just want to see the

most incredible dragons come to life, then this is a must-see movie.

But if you’ve only got a passing curiosity or are expecting a monster

movie, then you should spend your $8 on something else.

“Reign of Fire” is rated PG-13 for intense action violence.

* TODD W. KARELLA is an intern at the Daily Pilot.

No way to hide the way ‘Disguise’ falls short

We know kids enjoy disguises, mocking people, head-butting and

being different. And we know Dana Carvey has the flair to pull this

sort of thing off -- as proved in “Wayne’s World” and “Saturday Night

Live.” But, and this is a big “but,” Carvey’s ridiculous and rough

characters aren’t up to par in “Master of Disguise.”

Annoying Pistachio Disguisey (Carvey) works in an Italian

restaurant belonging to his dad, Fabbrizio. Fabbrizio, played by

James Brolin in a ghastly piece of casting, gets kidnapped by one of

his former enemies (Brent Spiner), a criminal mastermind with a

farting problem who is stealing all the world’s most precious

treasures. Among the items he’s stolen are the Liberty Bell, the

Constitution and the Apollo space ship.

Carvey goes into his “disguise” mode to save the treasures and his

dad. Even with the help of costumes, makeup, lighting and special

effects, something was missing.

Our granddaughter Tabatha had an idea about how to make the film

more appealing to kids. While she knew the importance of the

treasures because she had studied them at school, others might not.

She suggested that the kidnappers might have done better to kidnap

Britney Spears or Shaquille O’Neal or to have stolen gear from a

skateboard or surfing company.

There are very few laughs in “Disguise,” other than a scene where

a waiter trips while carrying spaghetti and one in which a man steps

in a pile of cow dung. Carvey’s acting ability lacks, and the humor

is not bizarre enough for kids in the audience, let alone the adults.

There is something for the adults -- cameos by Bo Derek (she looks

way too good) and Jesse Ventura, portions of the “Jaws” score and

“The Exorcist,” and an imitation of George Bush. It was all unfunny.

As we sat through the credits, it was revealed that Carvey wrote

this flop. He has no one to blame but himself.

We were disgusted with “Disguise.”

“Master of Disguise” is rated PG for mild language and some crude

humor.

* GAY WASSALL-KELLY is the editor of a Balboa newspaper and is

active in the community. BILL KELLY is an industrial engineer.