The Happening

I had high hopes for this movie, but was gravely disappointed when I sat down and watched it. Not once did it scare me, and I am giving it such a low review because I don't like movies where kids are killed. The acting was mediocre also. Definitely not Mark Wahlberg's best performance by far.

This is one of the worst movies I have ever seen and I can't believe I sat all the way through it. It's too bad I can't get my rental money back from Amazon. I wish I had read some reviews before I made the mistake of renting it. I'm a Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel fan so I figured the movie could be worth watching but, I have been wrong in the past.

Its not his best and not his worst. I liked it more the first time I watched it, but much less the second time. It starts out thrilling but then loses steam and direction. When that happens, he throws in some disturbing imagery. Some characters are thrown in and taken out here and there. Some characters are a little too odd and/or unrealistic (overly scared army guy, plant guy and crazy lady) Honestly, I think he needed to add 15 minutes more to the movie and decided to throw in the crazy lady. The house could have been empty and it wouldn't have made a difference.

After watching this movie I felt great anger--both at myself for watching it and at the Director, Mr. Shyamalan, for making it. I then decided to watch all the "special features" included with the DVD to try to glean some insights into the thought processes behind the making of this film. In all of the "features" we see a jolly Mr. Shyamalan talking about how "scary" he wanted to make this movie and about how he wanted to make a "B-Movie." The cast and crew are also shown joking around, as if this movie should not be taken seriously. I HOPE that this was the intention of the Director, because if one takes the movie seriously, it fits the description of my header: depressing, sick, and hopeless (not to mention BAD in almost every aspect except for the photography and music).
I am not the type of person who enjoys the blood-and-guts carnage that one finds in such movies as the "Night of the Living Dead" or "Pulp Fiction." Perhaps Mr. Shyamalan wanted to create a "dark comedy," as the latter film is often referred to. If so, he did NOT make this clear, by a long shot.
The "R" rating attached to this movie is supposedly due to violent and "disturbing" scenes. If you have a weak stomach (like me), you will INDEED find some of the scenes disturbing. I had to watch a comedy movie after viewing "The Happening" in an attempt to get some of those scenes out of my memory. Unfortunately, it didn't work! So, I plan on tossing "The Happening" in the trash.

M. Night Shyamalan is rubbish. his movies are slow and predictable with lame ending. I caught a few minutes of this piece of trash and couldn't believe someone would bother financing something so horrible.