Signs (2002) - 8 questions

Question: The film is frequently criticized for its inconsistencies involving the competence of the aliens and their allergies to water. Has M. Night Shyamalan ever responded to these criticisms?

Answer: No, he never has.

Question: Was it ever stated what the crop circles were meant to represent?

Answer: Yes, they were intended as coordinates for the aliens to land and begin their invasion. Merrill comments on this while engrossed in the television coverage of the invasion.

Question: I don't get it. What was the SOLE purpose of the aliens coming to Earth? And what exactly happened to them? Where did they go?

Answer: According to the theory in the movie they were there to take the planet for their own because they used up all the resources their own planet. They left the planet when it became apparent to them that the water on Earth was too dangerous.

Question: What was the red area on the alien's back which Merril hit with the baseball bat? A major organ? Its heart?

Answer: He seems to have deliberately struck where a bipedal creature's spine would have been the most vulnerable. The color was a wound caused by water being poured on it earlier.

Question: Do the individual aliens have cloaking abilities? It seemed at that the dogs were reacting to something that the people could not see. Were they smelling cloaked aliens? Were they going crazy to protect their human owners and that was misinterpreted as an attack on the people? I thought they are walking around at least invisible at times to do their work without detection. I may be wrong on that.

Answer: The aliens were not cloaked, not invisible. They had a chameleon-like ability to change their appearance to match their background. Recall the alien's fingers turning plaid when he held the boy. They seem to be that green color when not camouflaged. The better senses of the dogs did allow them to detect the aliens. However, one of the effects of alien presence noted in the movie was a change in personality; that is what happened to the dogs.

Question: First, let me say that the aliens being affected by only the "contaminants" in the tap water seems to be wrong. Two reason: 1)The Indian vet mentions that they don't like water, and 2) the aliens were avoiding areas with large bodies of water nearby. My question is this: wouldn't humans, who are over half water, be toxic to the aliens? Even if they processed the humans with different equipment and took precautions to avoid blood or body fluids, wouldn't carrying off a sweaty person burn the aliens? Seems like a dangerous harvest.

Answer: It could be that they are affected by the chlorine in the tap water (humans are affected by chlorine to, just look at Mustard Gas) to a greater extent then humans. The vet is only speculating about the landing sites. And while it is true that humans are mostly water, it is saline (i.e. salty like sweat) and has different chemical properties to pure H2O.

Question: Is there a plot twist in this film, and if so, what is it?

Answer: If you are really intersted in knowing the endings to movies, go to ruinedendings.com. The ending for this movie is on there, plus hundreds of other movies.

Question: The director makes a point to show the audience the picture of Mel Gibson (in normal Catholic priest garb) and his family at the beginning of the movie. The question is, is Mel Gibson supposed to be a Catholic priest? Or is there another Christian denomination in which preacher's wear the same outfit that Catholic priests wear?

Answer: American Episcopal priests and Anglican priests wear vestments that are similar in appearance to those worn by Catholic priests. They are able to marry if they choose.