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Grade: C+

Verdict: Sloppy seconds from the “Sixth Sense” team.

Details: Starring Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson. Directed by M. Night Shyamalan. Rated PG-13 for violence. One hour, 47 minutes.

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Review: “Unbreakable” isn't unbearable. But it isn't very good either. Unfortunately, lightning has failed to strike twice in this much-anticipated reunion of “The Sixth Sense's” star, Bruce Willis, and its Oscar-nominated writer/director, M. Night Shyamalan.

Willis plays David Dunn, a security guard at a Philadelphia sports arena. There's seemingly nothing special about David. He's just another guy with a troubled marriage and a dead-end job.

Then he survives a train wreck that kills everyone else on board. And he doesn't just survive; he's not even scratched.

David's modest local celebrity catches the attention of Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson), the elegant but decidedly odd owner of a gallery specializing in comic book art. Elijah was born with a rare disease that makes his bones so easily fractured that he's spent half his life in a hospital bed. Which is how he picked up his obsession with comic books. And you know what your mom always said about reading too many comics. Anyway, Elijah is convinced that he and David are at opposite ends of the same spectrum: he breaks too easily and David is, well, you know... So far, just fine. Shyamalan brings the same eerie gravitas and moral sensibility to “Unbreakable” that he worked so well into “The Sixth Sense.” We're intrigued and maybe even a little spooked.

But once Elijah and David connect, the movie starts unraveling. The possibilities of David's special powers are dealt with in numbingly unimaginative ways. His son (Haley Joel Osment lookalike, Spencer Treat Clark of “Gladiator”) tries to test his dad's invincibility (don't ask). His wife (Robin Wright Penn, wasted) wonders if her spouse's new lease on life indicates a new lease on their marriage.

Meanwhile, David suddenly starts picking up vibes from everyone he touches. He feels our pain and sees our secret sins. Most irritatingly, whenever he does something vaguely superhuman, the music swells like it used to when the actor playing Jesus performed a miracle in those religious epics from the '50s and '60s.

Alas, what Shyamalan has in mind is more comic book than Good Book. He sets up our expectations, then meets them with something out of a second-rate TV movie. Yes, there is a nifty last-minute twist, but it's nowhere near as stunning as the one in “The Sixth Sense.” As for the actors, Jackson radiates a weird-vibe charisma that keeps us wondering what he's all about. Is he a looney or is he a prophet? Willis is quite good as a regular guy who's spent his life not living up to his potential.

And potential is the key word here.

“Unbreakable” arrives brimming with potential. But having hooked us, it leaves us looking for complexity where there is none. The movie isn't a disaster, just a disappointment. The problem is, the two can sometimes feel like the same thing.

— Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Cox News Service