New York Times
"...UNBREAKABLE [shows] Mr. Shyamalan's remarkable growth as a director....This is a superhero comic rendered as a haiku....Mr. Willis has the charisma to hold an audience....Mr. Jackson does wonders with [his] role..." 11/22/2000 pp.E1-17Box Office
"...All is revealed with a stealth that makes UNBREAKABLE the kind of movie that's talked about well after the credits roll..." 01/01/2001 p.65 Entertainment Weekly
"...Somberly fantastic....Jackson gives a delicate and haunted performance." -- Rating: B 01/05/2001 p.51 Total Film
"...Intriguing....UNBREAKABLE is likely to surprise you....Jackson is suitably uncanny..." -- 4 out of 5 stars 02/01/2001 p.76-7 Sight and Sound
"...Unforgettable suspense sequences..." 02/01/2001 p.54-5 Chicago Sun-Times
"...As quietly intriguing as THE SIXTH SENSE....An uncommonly absorbing movie..." 11/22/2000 p.52 ReelViews 8 of 10
Unbreakable, which qualifies as one of the two or three most anticipated features of 2000, is M. Night Shyamalan's follow-up to his lightning in a bottle hit, The Sixth Sense. And, while Shyamalan hasn't ventured far from Sixth Sense territory, he has nevertheless crossed the line into a different genre. While The Sixth Sense was a variation on the ghost story, Unbreakable takes many of the same stylistic elements and weaves them into a superhero tale, offering us the story of a man whose unusual powers make him a natural (or perhaps that should be "unnatural") guardian of the human race...There is little question that Unbreakable will draw huge crowds during its opening weekend. However, even though this film boasts more mature direction than The Sixth Sense, it's unlikely that it will generate the same degree of rabid repeat viewing. The earlier picture was a phenomenon; this is just a movie. As far as the superhero film is concerned, Unbreakable offers a fresh perspective on a genre that is typically defined by stereotypes and cliches. So, as a follow-up to The Sixth Sense, this may not satisfy all of Shyamalan's adherents, but, taken on its own terms, Unbreakable holds together. - James Berardinelli
Chicago Sun-Times 8 of 10
In "Psycho," Alfred Hitchcock made us think the story was about the Janet Leigh character, and then killed her off a third of the way into the film. No one gets killed early in "Unbreakable," but Shyamalan is skilled at misdirection...The true subject of the film is well-guarded, although always in plain view, and until the end, we don't know what to hope for or fear. In that way, it's like "The Sixth Sense." There is a theory in Hollywood these days that audiences have shorter attention spans and must be distracted by nonstop comic book action. Ironic, that a movie about a student of comic book universes would require attention and patience on the part of the audience. Moviegoers grateful for the slow unfolding of "The Sixth Sense" will like this one, too...The actors give performances you would expect in serious dramas. Jackson is not afraid to play a man it is hard to like--a bitter man, whose intelligence only adds irony to anger. Willis, so often the centerpiece of brainless action movies, reminds us again that he can be a subtle actor, as muted and mysterious as actors we expect that sort of thing from--John Malkovich or William Hurt, for example. If this movie were about nothing else, it would be a full portrait of a man in crisis at work and at home. - Roger Ebert
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