Movie Review: Sign with Mel Gibson

   I hate it when I invest three hours in a movie, this one lasted until after midnight on television, and in the end, you have no idea what happened.  Mel Gibson in Sign did that to me last night.    

   It is Science Fiction, ET style, except the ET's are not cuddy little creatures, but wiry BEM (Bug Eyed Monsters) who are here to eat humans. Turns out, that like Wicked Witch of the West they are alergic to water, and they flee, but not until one sprays some fluid into the young mans face.  The hero's side kick slays the BEM with a baseball bat, and Mel grabs his boy, takes him outside and, get this, stabs him.  Stabs him. The kid has been through sheer terror, asthma attack, abduction by alien, sprayed with out of this world gas, and then his Dad stabs him.

   And does it kill him?  We DON'T FIND OUT.  He utters some words that may be dying words, or may mean he will live.  The reactions of his sister and uncle indicate that he is dying and his Dad is so tramatized that we cannot tell.

   Today I go on the internet and try to find an explanation in a plot summary somewhere.

   Mel Gibson, I forgive you.  You were so good in Forever Young as a pilot who was frozen for twenty five years that you can poop around in dogs like Sign and make grand gestures like Passion of Christ for a long time without losing me as a fan.  But please, I'd like some closure on films I watch.

Comment from jckfrstross

the little boy lived:) he stabbed him with an eppy pen it took a while but the little boy took a deep breath. and at the end she is playing with his sister. I loved this movie

Deb

Dear Deb, thanks for the information about the eppy  pen and the boy's survival.  That clears up THAT mystery, but what about...

the aliens and their relationship with the kids... did they come to "harvest" them.  They had been raising the kids for food, and others around the planet.

What overcame the race of ETs...water?  Looked like the ET was wounded when water fell on him.  Is he related to the wicked witch of the west?  Why was a race that could travel through outer space stymied by simple wooden doors. 

How did they make the crop circles?  They were navigation aids, I got that part.  The weird symbols meant food...boy...girl....here...and beware of the dog.  speaking of which... we hear the dog barking, we hear the boy say, "They got Annie" and THEN we hear more barking and finally yip yip yecch.

And, Oh, how did the revelation that there are species of ET restore Dad's faith?

Glad you liked the film... it was a thriller, fer sure.  Also a mystery, to me.

chuck

Now I got to go and get the movie!
Comment from garnett109 - 6/19/06 11:43 AM

I panned the film mercilessly, and that makes you want to see it?  So much for my skill as a reviewer.  Chuck