How They Became Famous In the early 00s Shyamalan was one of the hottest properties in Hollywood. His breakthrough,The Sixth Sense, starring Bruce Willis, was a commercial and critical hit, still revered for it's twist ending and spooky tone. The follow up, Unbreakable, again featuring Willis, turned the super-hero movie on it's head. Unusual for all sorts of reasons, it was perhaps too esoteric to become a major hit, but it did confirm to the world a major talent was on the rise. What They Did Next Signs isn't a bad film, only average. It is arguable The Village is the first truly stinking Shyamalan film, but this did mark a turning point in the director's career. It began his trajectory from the saviour of modern cinema, to washed-up, 'look where they are now' in just a few short-ish films. A trajectory he's still on now. Signs wasn't a departure due to tone or subject matter - it was another attempt at turning around a traditional concept, making the audience approach it in a new way - but it was the first time he failed in his ambitions. In this sense it was unexpected. What began with Signs ended in some of the most horrible movies to come out of Hollywood, each more baffling sub-par than the last. It seems he started to believe his own hype and the ultimate result was the wasting of a promising career.
