Full Movie Reviews
Rating of
2/4
"The Happening" by yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 01/25/2012
When an unidentified airborne contageon causes people to kill and mutilate themselves in vast numbers, a small group of friends flee the city to find refuge. There's something about the modern disaster movie that means everyone making them seems to forget to attach an ending. I Am Legend, 28 Days Later, The Day After Tomorrow, the list goes on. MNS's crack at the genre chooses to make the aggressor invisible which COULD have worked (I suppose...) but it felt like a "spot the zombie" competition where there was an apocalypse but the apocalypse seemed to forget to show up. I must admit I was almost glad that one of his trademark "twists" didn't come lumbering over the horizon, and the scenes of mass suicide and self harm were effectively creepy, but in a film like this you need a pay off …
Rating of
0.5/4
Not Happening
DarkCritic - wrote on 01/06/2010
"It started so suddenly and ended so suddenly."
That quote right there explains everything. Movies that have a story that starts suddenly and end suddenly really have no plot or story depth, which is a shame, because the idea for The Happening could have been presented better than it was. The idea for the story was good, but there was no "there" there.
The characters, as well as the movie, lacked. I didn't know that some of those actors could act that badly. Although, I am reminded of how beautiful Zooey's eyes are during the movie. I loved the emotion that Zooey portrayed during the movie, but I didn't care for the rest of the acting. Overall, the acting was terrible.
Really, the thing I hated was the lack of answers. "Oh, everyone's dying and we have no idea what's going on." …
Rating of
1/4
Shymalan is still making terrible movies!
TommyL31 - wrote on 04/17/2009
Is crap-tastic a word? Cause if not, it should be. M. Night Shyamalan served up a royal piece of crap for this one. I went to it because the idea sounded interesting, the trailer made it sound decent (even if it had limited appeal), and Mark Wahlberg was in it and he can do a pretty decent job if given a good role.
Basic premise of the movie: Humans have a basic instinct to protect themselves from harm. What if there's some sort of highly contagious epidemic (possibly biological weapons) that reverse this instinct and make people start killing themselves.
What went wrong: Quite simply, the writing was terrible. Mark Wahlberg's first scene as a teacher in a classroom sounds like it was written by a third grader who just learned what global warming is. The entire movie's plot is …
Rating of
1.5/4
Say It Isn't So!
Ghost Seed - wrote on 10/21/2008
Oh, okay - if this was meant to document life (or at least TAKE PLACE) on a distant earth-like planet, then I kind of get it...I think. Otherwise, this is a complete joke - a lazy effort - and all the critics are actually right this time around in their Shyamalan bashing.
Was he asleep?
Each actor/character are not so much performing as they are marionettes left hanging on hooks in the dark depths of a prop closet backstage. Googly-eyed reaction shots & line deliveries that sound more like a first time script read through. Not just with one or two roles, it's pretty much every single cast member - and the fact that John Leguizamo is the shining moment as far as acting, just pisses me off even more. There is zero chemistry, not a single relationship based on anything vaguely …
Rating of
2/4
Had Potential to be Great
Franz Patrick - wrote on 08/31/2008
People have extremely high expectations from M. Night Shyamalan’s films and I wish they would just give him a break. Sure, “The Village” was not as good as “The Sixth Sense,” “Unbreakable” and “Signs,” but it’s not completely horrible. “Lady in the Water” was a complete mess and I agree with the majority. But I happen to think that “The Happening” isn’t that bad. When things get scary, they really do get intense; that’s when I really get to see where (or from whom) Shayamalan gets his style of direction. Several examples of chilling scenes include people falling from the sky and the strict old lady near the climax of the picture. I must say that I’m really disappointed with the acting here. Even Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel couldn’t save this by …
Rating of
2.5/4
What is happening here?!?
kcvidkid - wrote on 07/02/2008
This movie was all right; it certainly did not deserve the critical damnation that it received upon opening. But I don't really know what to say about it.
I mean, it ranks nowhere near M. Night Shyamalan's best movies. It's sort of "dumbed-down": there is neither a twist ending nor a tiny detail that turns into a major plot development late in the movie. It's just a straightforward horror story with a little more gore thrown in to get an R rating.
The concept is great, although the unknown force effecting the entire population is quickly becoming overused. (By the time Stephen King's "Cell" is released, it will seem entirely unoriginal!) But here, the final explanation comes off as just silly; it would have been better to leave it completely unexplained that to say it was …
Rating of
1/4
Terrible *warning "plot" spoilers within*
Arek - wrote on 06/25/2008
It seems Shyamalan's decent into a second-class underperforming director is complete. There is no saving grace in his latest movie blunder - The Happening. The acting is horrible. The script is atrocious. I guess the wind machine was working well.... But perhaps worst of all, it seems Shyamalan has lost all respect for his audience.
I mean if your going to make a bad man-creates-his-own-demise-via-environmental-catastrophe (a la Day After Tomorrow), at least make it entertaining (the only interesting death's in the movie are shown in previews and commercials).
It’s easy to poke holes in a script that already looks like Swiss cheese - but its fun none-the-less. So here’s my summary.
Apparently plants have decided to rapidly evolve to combat their greatest threat - man. …
Rating of
2.5/4
It's Shyamalans's Happening and it Freaks Me Out
Chris Kavan - wrote on 06/19/2008
Those going here to see high tension and drama that hearken back to the good old days of Sixth Sense and Unbreakable will be sadly disappointed. Those who want to watch a B-grade sci-fi flick (never mind the director) may be in for a decent, though nothing exceptional, experience.
Pretty much the best part of the film is over within the first five or so minutes. Just like other horror films of this ilk (see: Dawn of the Dead, 28 days later, etc.) watching the effects of a society's breakdown ( or in this case, city) without any clear meaning is usually more exciting than finding out what caused it.
The characters are pretty boring, spouting at times incredibly lame dialogue - but it works in the confines of the whole throwback to the B-movie days. Still, if this had been made in …
Rating of
1/4
About 3 minutes of decent Cinema
Tino - wrote on 06/18/2008
M. Night Shyamalan's latest attempt reeks of effort, but it's all put in the wrong place. It seems as though that almost all of his talent was put into use as the producer and getting a terrific cast and crew together, but the script and direction are god awful. The first three minutes or so are the only ones that really show Shyamalan's talent. The opening scene shows a few different cases where people are suddenly seeming inhuman and commit suicide. Scenes like this one are definitely the best in the film. They do bring a genuine sense of grief and fear to the audience.
The rest of the film is all about Wahlberg's travesty of a character progressively discovering what "the happening" actually is. It's plants. By now, it's no secret, but the fact remains, Shyamaln picked plants as …
Rating of
1.5/4
"See, ma'am, I'm a teacher."
Arbogast1960 - wrote on 06/16/2008
So, you've decided to make a "fun B movie," perhaps harking back to 1950s-style melodramas like Invasion of the Body Snatchers or 1970s-style enviro-creepfests like Soylent Green. You are struck with the idea of nature turning on mankind after too many years of abuse. So far, so good. But how to go about bringing your vision to life? Well, if your name is M. Night Shyamalan, you act as follows:
(1) Write your own screenplay. This is most important because, as you so graciously informed mankind in Lady in the Water, your pen bleeds words that will one day change the world. Through their woodenness, their leaden otherworldliness, they occupy an uncharted space outside both intentional, good-natured camp and real world dialogue. It is crucial to your film's viability that you not …
