The Happening: A Review

[Lord Taishi]

The day my brother and I went to see M. Night Shyamalan’s The Happening, I expected to at least be entertained by the fact that A) people are committing suicide so it might be brutal, and it would give me and my brother something to laugh about.

Haw hee haw hee haw…..-puts gun to temple and shoots himself.-

I would first like to say that in the past, whenever someone has mentioned how “awesome” The Sixth Sense and Signs were, and therefore how great a storyteller M. Night Shyamalan is, I have always taken it with several jars of salt because as far as I’m concerned, one or two successful movies a great director does not make, especially when said films are stranded afloat amidst a sea of cinematic piss originating from a familiar source without a floatation device save for the millions of “fans” who immediately gave up on this walking Hollywood failure after The Village and Lady in the Water (as well they should have).

I believe I speak for a great majority of the theatrical and cinematic community when I pray to the gods that this movie marks the end of Mr. Night’s career. In the words of my brother Nick: “There is more mystery surrounding this guy’s career than in all of his movies combined.” No doubt the big mystery pertains to why M. Night still HAS a career.

In this film, the big twist is: (Drumroll)……………………………………………………………

[Sophie ♥]

I saw that movie without knowing it was an M. Night Shyamalan film. That's a mistake. His movies are NOT scarey. Some of them are okay... like the sixth sense, but never scary. Only suspeseful. I have learned when I see his movies to expect a thriller, not a scary movie. I made the same mistake with Lady In The Water, which only disappointed me horribly because i expected something scary. It was a good movie, but i couldn't be happy with it because i wanted something scarier.

As for The Happening, no, it wasn't scary. It wasn't really a good plot. It wasn't really interesting. You didn't really care anymore about halfway through. But i swear to god, my brother and I could not stop laughing to save our lives. We're cynical people at the theatre, and we found the crazy old lady and the main characters rant about not being mad at his girlfriend hilarious. When people died, we laughed. Hanging from trees, hilarious to us. It's not funny in a general sense, but when it's in a movie that has absolutely nothing good about it, you have to find stuff to laugh at. Dont get me wrong, i dont enjoy people actually dying... but suicide in films always gets me. It's the same with those dead baby jokes. They're funny until it actually happens. Then you feel guilty.

Anyway, bottom line, dont see that film unless you can laugh at suicide and crazy old ladies.

And a line lower than the bottom line, dont see any of M. Night Shyamalan's films with the idea that this one might just spook you.

-Sophie

P.S. For all you people out there reading this thinking "Damn, i wanted to see that movie..." i'd suggest Wall E as a substitute. I went to the midnight release and i now deem it my favorite movie ever. My favorite comedy, action, adventure, romance, and animation i have seen to date, but I dont really see alot of movies. Although after seeing The Happening (as Wall E was the first movie i saw after it) i am beginning to think there is a "Go Green" concept being tossed into alot of the movies nowadays.

[Lord Taishi]

I saw that movie without knowing it was an M. Night Shyamalan film. That's a mistake. His movies are NOT scarey. Some of them are okay... like the sixth sense, but never scary. Only suspeseful. I have learned when I see his movies to expect a thriller, not a scary movie. I made the same mistake with Lady In The Water, which only disappointed me horribly because i expected something scary. It was a good movie, but i couldn't be happy with it because i wanted something scarier.

As for The Happening, no, it wasn't scary. It wasn't really a good plot. It wasn't really interesting. You didn't really care anymore about halfway through. But i swear to god, my brother and I could not stop laughing to save our lives. We're cynical people at the theatre, and we found the crazy old lady and the main characters rant about not being mad at his girlfriend hilarious. When people died, we laughed. Hanging from trees, hilarious to us. It's not funny in a general sense, but when it's in a movie that has absolutely nothing good about it, you have to find stuff to laugh at. Dont get me wrong, i dont enjoy people actually dying... but suicide in films always gets me. It's the same with those dead baby jokes. They're funny until it actually happens. Then you feel guilty.

Anyway, bottom line, dont see that film unless you can laugh at suicide and crazy old ladies.

And a line lower than the bottom line, dont see any of M. Night Shyamalan's films with the idea that this one might just spook you.

-Sophie

P.S. For all you people out there reading this thinking "Damn, i wanted to see that movie..." i'd suggest Wall E as a substitute. I went to the midnight release and i now deem it my favorite movie ever. My favorite comedy, action, adventure, romance, and animation i have seen to date, but I dont really see alot of movies. Although after seeing The Happening (as Wall E was the first movie i saw after it) i am beginning to think there is a "Go Green" concept being tossed into alot of the movies nowadays.

Thank you! Wall E would be a perfect alternate choice! Or perhaps Suicide Club, its been out for a while, but the story, deaths and acting are all incredible when compared to The Happening.

Plus, I agree with you on the hilarity part. I was laughing and thinking to myself "Oh my god, this is ridiculous!" when the old lady was bashing her head through the wall.

[Necare]

I remember I quite enjoyed The Sixth Sense, but then later I happened to stumble upon two festering piles of dung, namely Signs and The Village. It was hard to believe that these two displays of retarded showmanship actually came from the mind of the same director, but sadly they did. Since then, I haven`t bothered watching any new releases by this "has been", I think I will be better off watching the Teletubbies if I want to be truly frightened. Imagine, the whole Teletubby world committing suicide in various ways, now that would really be something!!!

[bigbabbyblue75]

I found this movie to be ok, not the best move by far i was bord most the movie and waching other kill them self freak me out just a little. but that not why i thought it was ok the plot was not the plants making us kill are selfs but defending them selfs from what we are doing to them. we killing the planet and the planet was fighting back, Yes i think the acting was bad and the story had holds in it.