Happening: Your thoughts?
Jun. 13, 2008
While the movie-going public will surely be going ga-ga for THE INCREDIBLE HULK tomorrow, they'll likely be going gag-gag for THE HAPPENING. If Rotten Tomatoes is any indicator, THE HAPPENING ain't happening at all with a rotten 15% approval rating (compared to HULK's 72%). If you flash back a few months, it was actually supposed to be the other way around. HULK was suffering from bad buzz as fanboys were griping about the look of Hulk and The Abomination. Meanwhile everyone was positively giddy that M. Night Shyamalan was returning to some hardcore horror with an R-rated thriller. Funny how things change, eh? You can read our thoughts on THE HAPPENING here and after you've seen the movie yourself, this is your place to vent, fume or perhaps even defend yourself for liking Shyamalan's latest. While you're at it, you can head over here to talk similarly about THE INCREDIBLE HULK.
| Source: | JoBlo.com |
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i don't know what to think...
I'm not going to reiterate what others have said (for the most part). I'll definately pick this up on DVD, just to give it another watch.
Right now though, I feel it was a little blah. And I really don't understand how it got an 'R' rating as the violence was pretty tame. The best part was at the house with Mrs. Jones- I wish that area was expanded upon and fleshed out more as it was the most creepy, scary, and entertaining part of the film. A bit of
I'm not going to reiterate what others have said (for the most part). I'll definately pick this up on DVD, just to give it another watch.
Right now though, I feel it was a little blah. And I really don't understand how it got an 'R' rating as the violence was pretty tame. The best part was at the house with Mrs. Jones- I wish that area was expanded upon and fleshed out more as it was the most creepy, scary, and entertaining part of the film. A bit of a missed opportunity there.
The score was lackluster in that it didn't really add to the mood when it could have. Additionally the dialogue suffered from feeling very unrealistic. And don't get me started on the broadcast exposition turns plot device problem.
Lastly, and most importantly, there were no real character arcs for any of the charaters (other than admitting they loved each other?), so in the end they weren't really affected or changed by this catastrophic event that murdertenderized most of the population of the East coast. That doesn't make any sense.
To Shyamalan: Please finally put a commentary track on the DVD and leave off the damn childhood movie making experiments. Thanks.
No Spoilers
The writing was sloppy and completely treats the audience like they're stupid. He spells things out horribly, pretty much everything is foreshadowing the next scene. I couldn't believe it was coming from him. It felt like he passed the idea to a 12 year old boy and had that kid write it.
While he picked accomplished
The writing was sloppy and completely treats the audience like they're stupid. He spells things out horribly, pretty much everything is foreshadowing the next scene. I couldn't believe it was coming from him. It felt like he passed the idea to a 12 year old boy and had that kid write it.
While he picked accomplished actors, he didn't know how to use them at all. Walberg works well under good directors (scorcese, paul thomas anderson, etc), but he seems lost in this movie. His line delivery is completely off and registers in maybe three scenes. Zooey comes off completely useless. She's been great in other films, but not this.
And the direction? Really? What is he going for? Suspense? He might get it in one or two scenes, but he should stay away from horror. His gore scenes play like "Jason X", not scary, but hilarious. Nothing about this movie creeped me out....at all.
The worst part of this is that it COULD have been a great horror film. Imagine if Neil Marshall directed this, or even Sam Raimi could have had fun with this.
All in all, a complete waste of time.
6/10
Is this M. Night's return to glory? Well . . . no. As much as I hate to admit it, this is his second worst film after Lady in the Water (2/5). The ending is VERY weak. In fact, it doesn't really end at all, in a way. It simply stops just as it's beginning to build momentum. Another problem comes from the lead actors. Mark Wahlberg gives a rather "weird" performance and Zooey Deschanel may be the worst actress I've ever seen who wasn't in a B-movie. The movie contains a lot of
Is this M. Night's return to glory? Well . . . no. As much as I hate to admit it, this is his second worst film after Lady in the Water (2/5). The ending is VERY weak. In fact, it doesn't really end at all, in a way. It simply stops just as it's beginning to build momentum. Another problem comes from the lead actors. Mark Wahlberg gives a rather "weird" performance and Zooey Deschanel may be the worst actress I've ever seen who wasn't in a B-movie. The movie contains a lot of humor to balance its intensity, and it was definitely the movie's strongest element, but the whole affair seemed slightly "off." Fortunately, even when Night's scripts are sub-par, his directing remains as strong and visually impressive as ever. I recommend this film only to the loyal M. Night Shyamalan fans. Anybody else should save their money for something better.
STAY AHEAD OF THE WIND...STAY AWAY FROM THIS STINKER!
Poor writing, worse acting, plot elements that went no where, and a preachy half-assed plotline are the
Poor writing, worse acting, plot elements that went no where, and a preachy half-assed plotline are the basic elements in this movie. Save your money, save your time and don't see this movie. Or else you'll be like my friend at the end going, "Just end already. Get me out of this shitty movie!"
Not the worst movie ever made, people.
I just watched The Happening and I'll have to admit that all the bad press did the movie well for me. I went in to it expecting to see the worst movie ever made. Instead, I got a flick with numerous flaws, but one that I really want to watch again. Soon.
Night continues to be a master of establishing mood with thoughtful direction, camera angles, and his sometimes excruciatingly slow pace. Unfortunately, he didn't spend nearly as much time with the script as he did setting up his
I just watched The Happening and I'll have to admit that all the bad press did the movie well for me. I went in to it expecting to see the worst movie ever made. Instead, I got a flick with numerous flaws, but one that I really want to watch again. Soon.
Night continues to be a master of establishing mood with thoughtful direction, camera angles, and his sometimes excruciatingly slow pace. Unfortunately, he didn't spend nearly as much time with the script as he did setting up his shots.
The dialog suffers from a severe lack of sub-text. Throughout the entire movie, every single character says exactly what they're thinking/feeling. Nothing is left to viewer interpretation. If someone is sad, they say, "I'm feeling very sad right now."
I have to believe that the acting was intended to come off as wooden and awkward as it was. I've enjoyed both Deschanel and Wahlberg in past films, but they just didn't have it here. No one did. It seems improbable that an entire cast phoned in a flick. It had to be intentional. Unless some mysterious, invisible plague attacked the acting center of their brains before they hit the set. In fact, Leguizamo seemed to be the only actor working in this flick. I really would have liked to see more of him here. His character was sincere and sympathetic, even while surrounded by lackluster performances from the rest of the cast.
Wahlberg's choices seemed odd. It was as if he was directed to be a "nice guy teacher," and to him that meant, speak in a high, whispery voice and whine pathetically whenever confronted. There's no reason that nice guy teacher character couldn't also have been a take-charge protagonist with a backbone.
My only other problem with the flick is that Shyamalan seemed to get lost in the running time. He had 90 minutes to tell us a story, but he spent a disproportionate amount of that time rehashing the same conversation. Never do the characters discover new evidence or pro-actively work to unravel the mystery. Instead, they lazily wonder about the cause of the disaster through every scene. Nor do they attempt even once to protect themselves. If you watched as hundreds of people were dying as a result of some airborne pathogen, wouldn't it occur to you at some point to throw on a mask of some sort. At the very least pull your shirt collar over your nose?
That being said, I have to say that I really enjoyed the movie. I'm usually not one to rate a movie very highly unless it really knocks me out of the park, but for some reason this one charmed me. I don't expect too many people to share my point of view, but I'll file this under my guilty pleasures, along with Van Helsing and A Sound of Thunder.
Hear this, remember it, learn it, KNOW it: People ruin things. [FACT]
If you don't want a movie spoiled, don't read about it, don't listen to people who want to talk to you about it, don't watch the trailer all the way through. (I watch just enough of a movie trailer to get the gist of it, and if I'm sold already, I direct my attention
Hear this, remember it, learn it, KNOW it: People ruin things. [FACT]
If you don't want a movie spoiled, don't read about it, don't listen to people who want to talk to you about it, don't watch the trailer all the way through. (I watch just enough of a movie trailer to get the gist of it, and if I'm sold already, I direct my attention somewhere else. I've had too many movies spoiled for me by the trailer.)
So yeah, you have to be VERY careful when trying to get info about a movie before you've seen it... if you're a movie fan.
Hey, Douchey
Spoilers should be expected.
Spoilers should be expected.
2.) The presence of the little girl was a worthless narrative conceit.
3.) There was no satisfying payoff on the mod ring as a plot element.
4.) Old, over-the-top psycho lady was distracting and could have been excised.
5.) The "science" behind the theories in this film is laughably shallow. I made the mistake of seeing it with two people working on Ph.D.s in botany, and they both ranted incessantly about factual inaccuracies and
2.) The presence of the little girl was a worthless narrative conceit.
3.) There was no satisfying payoff on the mod ring as a plot element.
4.) Old, over-the-top psycho lady was distracting and could have been excised.
5.) The "science" behind the theories in this film is laughably shallow. I made the mistake of seeing it with two people working on Ph.D.s in botany, and they both ranted incessantly about factual inaccuracies and half truths.
6.) In a mood wholly dependent on mood, suspense, and a worthwhile protagonist, Night offers the wind as a villain and wooden, unlikable characters doing stupid, unsympathetic things.
7.) MNS has burned the last of the available good will I had left for his extended "Outer Limits" spisodes.
NICE SPOILER
THE MIGHTY HAVE FALLEN!
NO NO NO
"so whats gonna happen is that your gonna walk up on this house, and you should say...umm... 'LOOK AN OLD HOUSE!'... yeah that sounds good... aaannnd ACTION!"
pretty sure everyday on set went something like that.
"so whats gonna happen is that your gonna walk up on this house, and you should say...umm... 'LOOK AN OLD HOUSE!'... yeah that sounds good... aaannnd ACTION!"
pretty sure everyday on set went something like that.
be careful
Strange
Not Night's best, but better than Lady in the Water. Unbreakable is still my favorite Night film. "They called me Mr. Glass."
Several reviewers from other sights have said that Marky Marky turnd out the wrost performance they've ever seen from any actor. Damn that's harsh.
Not Night's best, but better than Lady in the Water. Unbreakable is still my favorite Night film. "They called me Mr. Glass."
Several reviewers from other sights have said that Marky Marky turnd out the wrost performance they've ever seen from any actor. Damn that's harsh. His performance seemed realistic to me. I seen people who behave just like that character. And yes people, many parts are intentionally meant to be funny. I would have thought that was pretty clear, especially the talking to the plastic plant scene. Laugh people, it's okay!
But at least, everyone I think would at admit that the construction worker suicide scene was fan-friggin-tastic!
It wasn't preachy at all, it was just a story folks. It may be even an extreme version of something that one day may come true. And people will ofcourse think it's an act of terrorism from some brown folks. tehe.
My Review: 7/10
Within a few scenes into the movie, the film is quite eerie and chilling. This film is also character driven and I liked the characters. Obviously, the film has an environmental message. Preachy or not, I liked the idea of plants killing humans off because we're polluting the environment, but that's just me. You don't usually see original ideas like these. As a Night film, it's the worse but it's still a good movie. And no, there is not twist ending in this film so don't expect one.
Rather than CGI effects, mindless action scenes that does nothing with the plot, and the usual characteristics of a summer movie, "The Happening" shifts over to the other side: It's slow paced and character driven. The performance, whatever people said about them, were actually good in here. Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel, and John Leguizamo all do a good job. See, most people expect them to act like people in every other apocalyptic thriller: Scared, terrified, etc. Well, they do act like that but not in the way you expect them to be.
People usually don't like M. Night movies because they have the wrong expectations for it. Well, I'll tell you this: Expect a B-movie inspired by "The Birds." Some people will go along with the idea. Some will not. It depends the type of person you are that determines if you're going to enjoy this film or not. As for me, I enjoyed it much better than the usual summer fare.
WOW
Terrible
Thrilling, terrifying, emotional, suspenseful, powerful - in short, vintage Shyamalan.
And there wasn't a twist ending to make all these whiny bitches out there complain even more about him (even though I always respect his choices in storytelling), yay!
Big fat A+ for THIS one, from me.
Thrilling, terrifying, emotional, suspenseful, powerful - in short, vintage Shyamalan.
And there wasn't a twist ending to make all these whiny bitches out there complain even more about him (even though I always respect his choices in storytelling), yay!
Big fat A+ for THIS one, from me.
Wow....... bad.
I liked it
Oh, almost forgot...
--SPOILER ALERT--, although it shouldn't matter by now.
What the HELL was up with that ending newscast show? Friggin' condescending bullsh(#*@.
Yeah yeah...we get it. The plant thing is global warming and the scientist is trying to say that it's real but nobody believes him...OOOOOOOH, real subtle there. Very intricately woven metaphor.
This is the funny part about The Happening: I liked it better when it was called "Signs", and was scarier.
--SPOILER ALERT--, although it shouldn't matter by now.
What the HELL was up with that ending newscast show? Friggin' condescending bullsh(#*@.
Yeah yeah...we get it. The plant thing is global warming and the scientist is trying to say that it's real but nobody believes him...OOOOOOOH, real subtle there. Very intricately woven metaphor.
This is the funny part about The Happening: I liked it better when it was called "Signs", and was scarier.
Total Disaster
...there's a better negative pun to be had there, but it resides beyond my grasp.
This is was just... such a terrible instance of writing/storytelling as I've ever seen.
Lemme get the good out of the way first:
The movie was BEAUTIFUL. The opening sequence evoked Hitchcock so much I half-expected to see Jimmy Stewart in that classroom instead of Whalberg. The lighting, gorgeous. The shots, wonderfully composed. M.Night has that eye.... that eye that only great
...there's a better negative pun to be had there, but it resides beyond my grasp.
This is was just... such a terrible instance of writing/storytelling as I've ever seen.
Lemme get the good out of the way first:
The movie was BEAUTIFUL. The opening sequence evoked Hitchcock so much I half-expected to see Jimmy Stewart in that classroom instead of Whalberg. The lighting, gorgeous. The shots, wonderfully composed. M.Night has that eye.... that eye that only great directors have.
But the STORY. It's just unforgiveable. The concept was fine. It's great. But everything ELSE. All the exposition rampant during the movie ('random cut to cheesy newscast freaking out', 'convenient phonecall to family member who knows everyone is dead').
The dialogue... "I hear wind from the OUTSIDE!", Jesus. I was insulted.
And the gore? Not impressive. And I don't mean in a gorehound sort of "Cannibal Ferox was better" sort of way. I mean in a "that's it? That's what you have to offer?"
Oh, another quip, what was up with the badly superimposed television monitors on screen? Horrible.
And the "creepy" thing with the guy feeding himself to the lions. Are you shittin' me? People complained that Indy IV had bad CGI, but some guy composited in with some lions gets his arm erased in after effects and I'm supposed to be impressed?
Just. blegh.
[link]
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Absolutely terrible, M. Nights worst ever.
Her Name Should be Zooey WHATTHEHELL
I adore M. Night, I should say first, even Lady in the Water. And, despite what I shall say next, The Happening provides a visual feast replete with auteur moves by Shamma: reflections, canted camera angles, excellent composition, saturated lighting, and a score that beefs up the creepy factor. THERE BE SPOILERS AHEAD!!
Two things make this the worst
I adore M. Night, I should say first, even Lady in the Water. And, despite what I shall say next, The Happening provides a visual feast replete with auteur moves by Shamma: reflections, canted camera angles, excellent composition, saturated lighting, and a score that beefs up the creepy factor. THERE BE SPOILERS AHEAD!!
Two things make this the worst Shamma film in all of Shammadom:
the premise which is not given its due drama at the end. No, I don't need a twist. I do need more than a voice over, though, and I don't really need the three months later with our core cast. Cut to France would have been better. I understand it was done to add closure, but the best way to go would have been no closure and cut away.
Now, to the worst problem: yeah, blue eyes and black hair and pale skin are all so hotsy totsy, but goddamn, Zooey Dumbashell couldn't act her way out of a paper sack. Bad delivery. Horrible conviction (or lack thereof).
Marky Mark had some of his funky bunch going with quips and such, but Jesus, it was weak in places.
Betty Buckley was chilling at times, but I get the feeling that so much was cut out with her character, what with the isolated shot of the picture and her isolation in the house never explained much.
And, uh, WHY have the subplot with the little girl and Leguizamo? It was unnecessary. At first, I thought the split at the crossroads would give us this nice double view of the situation, Leg and Marky Mark helming their own parts of the script. But, nope. And, wow, if you're going to kill off such a great actor, let him run with it, don't shoot a lame-o wrist cut(uh, the wrong way, even) and cut away.
Many will say that the premise of this film is its main problem. I do not believe this to be true. I think that the premise is intriguing and, like all good writer/directors, Shamma refuses to explain it all, acknowledging that NOT having the answers is not only more frightening but also more realistic (much like his scientist protagonist would argue). I'm such a sad Shamma fan today. But thank God for Norton and crew to pep me up. You may have found me hanging from a tree if I had to see Zooey stare all doe-eyed at the camera one more time and deliver a vacuous line.
It was ok
Meh
WENT IN WITH LOWERED EXPECTATIONS
So sad :(
Recently I've been watching all of his previous work, in anticipation for "The Happening". This was a great way of looking at how he constructs all of his films and got me really excited for his latest story.
Boy oh boy, I was terribly disappointed with "The Happening"...this film is terrible.
There
Recently I've been watching all of his previous work, in anticipation for "The Happening". This was a great way of looking at how he constructs all of his films and got me really excited for his latest story.
Boy oh boy, I was terribly disappointed with "The Happening"...this film is terrible.
There are little to no redeeming values in the movie, it's a like a spoof of a b-horror movie...except it's not a spoof, its taking itself seriously. Night is normally able to draw great performances from his actors, that is not the case here. Mark Whalberg and Zoey Deschanel are wooden and seem to be rehearsing lines during the entire film. The supporting actors are o.k, but there isn't a stand out moment in the film at all in terms of acting.
I think the main problem is the script in general. We're thrown right into the middle of the action, so we're basically told what's going on straight away. The rest of the movie spends so much time trying to explain itself to us, through clunky unrealistic dialogue, that we loose all emotional attachment to the characters.
An example (and I don't think there's any spoilers here) is when they arrive at a crazy old womans house. They sit around the dinner table and listen to her explain in tremendous detail about a pipe which connects to an old shed in the yard next to her house. This explanation is so painstaking and obvious she might as well have said "so if you want to use that pipe later in the story, feel free to do so".
Likewise the scares seem to be non-existent. Yes, there's a lot of violence...but where's the tension building that we all love from Shyamalan so much? I miss those extremely long shots which help to create the atmosphere (like when the Aliens arrive to harvest in Signs, and kill the family dog). Even James Newton Howard's score is lackluster, where were the themes which he normally builds so well?
All in all, I was severely disappointed. I honestly don't know what to expect from Night in the future.
Worst of all there were plot elements introduced that had the premise to actually work and they didnt, they werent even used....
*SPOILER*
What the fuck was with the mood ring? They
Worst of all there were plot elements introduced that had the premise to actually work and they didnt, they werent even used....
*SPOILER*
What the fuck was with the mood ring? They could have used it to where she thought he was changing and was about to do something but noticed his mood ring didnt change and it saved them or something blah blah. I mean you spend 80 fucking minutes focusing on a mood ring and then do NOTHING with it in a movie ABOUT plants altering moods?
Sorry, haters. But, I love what I love. And, nope, I don't like crap. Like I said, I
Sorry, haters. But, I love what I love. And, nope, I don't like crap. Like I said, I didn't enjoy Incredible Hulk.
Hap[penstance