Were you one of the people who went to see M. Night Shyamalan’s The Happening instead of The Incredible Hulk? I’d be interested to hear what you thought. Ebert may have given the movie three stars, but most American movie critics are throwing Rotten Tomatoes at the screen (only 20% fresh on the Tomatometer). But forget about the critics, I want to know what you guys thought. Please comment below!
My quick thoughts: Shyamalan needs to find a group of creative people to collaborate and bounce ideas off of. Not only is the plot ridiculous, but the characters are unbelievable and speak like no living human being I’ve ever seen or experienced. Shyamalan has directed Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel, both considered talented actors, into one-dimensional b-movie level performances (for example, think back to Natalie Portman’s performance in the George Lucas-directed Star Wars prequels). Despite promises of M Night’s first R-Rated horror film, Shyamalan keeps most of the violence off screen, and never suceeds at being horrifying even on a psychological level.The resulting film is more unintentionally funny than scary or thrilling. Wahlberg runs away from the wind (…as if you could actually run away from the wind?) and pleads to plastic plants. And the ending is the textbook definition of anti-climatic.
So, what did you think about M. Night Shyamalan’s The Happening?
June 14th, 2008 at 1:26 am
I’ll start by saying “I like this film.” I didn’t love it, but it wasn’t a complete bomb for me. I agree with what Peter said about Night needing to step back and let others present ideas for the creative process. Mark and Zooey (not a big fan of hers) are respectable actors in their own right. Therefor, the impression I got was they were very over-directed. It was also hard to peg why exactly John Leguizamo (sp?) was even in the film beyond star power. His character has no arc and he does not steal the scenes he’s in. It almost felt as though Night looked at the treatment and thought; “I need another character for the audience to get emotionally attached to that I can kill.”
All this being said, I enjoyed the experience. Certain moments held me in suspense, other’s disturbed me at my core. The entire Jeep sequence was one of the best in the film, from the lawn care workers to Leguizamo’s death. The first 10 minutes are a great setup for the rest of the film. I’m a little surprised after Cloverfield took so much heat for “profiting from the tragedy of 9/11″ that no one has commented on the construction workers throwing themselves off of a building in downtown New York, in the same way.
As I said before, not Night’s best work, but for me, a good movie as a whole. Over-directed but spooky. Let the flaming begin.
June 14th, 2008 at 1:38 am
This movie was planned almost from the start to be a B movie. I’m sure M. Night started off with high expectations for his new screenplay. It sounds good at first, with a biological agent causing people to end their own lives. However, as he developed the story and decided to use vegetation as the supplier of said biological agent, he began to realize just how campy this movie was going to be. In fact it was becoming Hitchcock’s “Birds” only this time it was vegetation laying the beat down on humanity, not the pigeon’s. Mark Wahlberg is a terrific actor, and there is no way he would act this poorly in a movie unless it was meant to be done on purpose. One thing M. Night does is craft visually well done movies, he makes wise choices, however in this movie he makes some ridiculous choices, like the slow motion look back preformed by John Leguizamo. There is nothing about that shot that isn’t funny or cheesy. All in all, I think M. Night was intentionally funny and created a well done purposeful B movie.
June 14th, 2008 at 1:39 am
Peter, after reading your review I actually want to see it. That just sounds hillarious.
June 14th, 2008 at 1:47 am
That’s it - I can’t apologize for this guy anymore. He has truly lost whatever gift(s) he had and if a movie like THE HAPPENING can get made, I feel sorry for all the talented, humble and hungry screenwriters and directors out there who aren’t living solely off a brand name.
The film itself is godawful. All the good reviews for it seem more apologetic and hopeful than positive. And that’s a dangerous sign (no pun intended). This is one of those movies where the acting is so bad that initially you think that’s intentional and that everything will be explained in the end. NOTHING is explained in the end. The acting is cringeworthy, the dialogues lack any weight as do the characters. Shyamalan is unable to create a world or world event which is expansive or believeable. THE HAPPENING seems like his cheapest mainstream effort, and I can see why.
I’m praying that he get’s taken off of THE LAST AIRBENDER as AVATAR is one of my favorite cartoons and a pretentious hack (yes, that’s what he’s become!) can only ruin it.
It’s so sad to see someone fall from grace like this. But facts are facts. And I hope the industry is fickle enough this time to make him see that he can’t just keep making crappy films like this.
ROHIT IYER
June 14th, 2008 at 1:48 am
Can we delete stupid posts from idiots like reslipia?
I want to see this regardless of what people are saying. It almost seems to be getting the same reaction The Village did. And I really liked The Village.
June 14th, 2008 at 2:04 am
sucked
June 14th, 2008 at 2:07 am
ugh. no taste.
June 14th, 2008 at 2:08 am
joshua–
I know exactly which shot you were talking about, and you’re right: it was campy and cheesy, but it looked far from intentional.
If he really did want to make a “B-movie”, then he should have gone all out like Tarantino or Rodriguez; heck he could’ve even had plant monsters and what not - that I don’t mind.
I just don’t think that (if the cheesiness is intentional) you can straddle in-between both seriousness and cheesiness and try to get the best of both worlds.
He’s failed one way or the other.
June 14th, 2008 at 2:36 am
Leaves a bad taste in mouth , Cap Awesome…
Trust me on this one.
$
Steve
June 14th, 2008 at 3:08 am
The Happening has my vote for one of the worst movies of 2008. I mean just look at it! Everything in it has potential. The intriguing storyline, the brilliant cast and a promising idea
But M Night Shaymalan really screwed himself over this time. The plot is definitely better then Lady in the Water (shudder) but Shaymalan doesn’t do a good job at putting the story in full retrospect. The thrills are lacking, the acting terrible and the climax is extremely anti-climatic, and i’m pretty sure we’ve seen something similar to this outbreak before (28 Weeks Later)
First we have the good (The Sixth Sense, Signs) the bad (Unbreakable) and the plain ugly (The Village, Lady in the Water, The Happening) M Night Shaymalan, you have officialy lost your directing credentials
June 14th, 2008 at 3:30 am
Roger Ebert found it touching, I think ever since he became ill he lost his taste in movies.
June 14th, 2008 at 3:34 am
Yes, they said the same about Rocky Horror, but that movie was in on the joke and it was suppose to be strange. This movie is suppose to be a serious.
June 14th, 2008 at 4:41 am
It was horrible.. like one of the worst movies I’ve ever scene… like even in bad movies, I can pick a few scenes that I could relate to.. but this one??? not a single one!!! the whole story is pointless (*SPOILER* and being explained through the first few dialogs of mark wahlberg in the school) and random
I couldn’t stop from yawning throughout the whole movie… and I kept looking at my friend the whole time like WTF and how boring a movie can be (I pretty much looked at my watch more than 20 times)
and the whole violence/brutal deaths.. what was the point of that??? oh.. btw, it’s said the budget is $65 million!!! Where the fuck did that go????!!!
Please save yourself the 2 hours of your life (fuck the money) that you gonna spend watching this garbage
dude.. it’s not even worth bootlegging!!!
PS. on a totally unrelated note… a few days ago there was a discussion for Captain America casting… Marky Mark is a really really good option
June 14th, 2008 at 4:58 am
When it comes to M. Night Shyamalan, one often expects his trademark twist. Well, there’s a twist in this film alright, and that is, you expect the ending… no, the whole movie to be good. But no! Instead, it sucks!
“What a tweest!”
June 14th, 2008 at 5:49 am
I saw the movie yesterday and was shocked… at how bad it was. You can tell it was a bad film because the part that scared me the most was when I was startled by the first gunshot (when the cop kills himself), and like I said I was startled not scared, but thats the closest I got to being scared the entire movie. The rest of the movie was funny and not because it was supposed to be…how can a tree be scary??? They literally show a tree and play scary music and try and get people scared. The acting was horrible. I like Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel is gorgeous, but they both gave horrible performances…not bad, horrible, and I know it’s not their fault. Night lost me with this one and with Lady in the water… and now he’s going to do Avatar??? I don’t really know what that is but all I heard was that it was a cartoon based on Anime… come on Night…Anime???????
June 14th, 2008 at 6:16 am
His cameo was when they were on the train: he was the passenger sitting next to Deschanel. I really liked the film, by the way — though it irritates me that they keep calling his films thrillers when, really, they’re good old fashioned science fiction stories. And I don’t mean Hollywood ’sci-fi’ but 1960-70s ’s.f.’ (as they used to call it) — the kind that H.G. Wells and John Wyndham used to write. Good stuff.
June 14th, 2008 at 6:29 am
Ebert means nothing to me, as far as movie taste. He bashes half the comedies I love.
The Happening was so not happening.
Good actors, the seed of a good idea for a scifi horror flick, and a talented director.
But the script and the choices made were God-awful and made the audience cringe in their many moments of lazy filmmaking.
June 14th, 2008 at 6:47 am
You know how M. Night was proclaimed to be the next Spielberg; well he is in this regard - no checks and balances. I feel M. Night is in the honored position were anything he writes he can get a studio to produce. Producers and other industry people would have questioned this story if M. wasn’t such a name. As a screenwriter not every one of my screenplays is ready for the screen; The Happening probably should have been put aside as an interesting idea that needs to be reworked at a later date.
M. Night keeps making big mistakes with major plot points that a first year film student would get kill for. His dependence on covering gaps in logic by use of TV news or minor character monologs has got to stop. Note: the news story about Happenings ending as quickly as they started and the TV graphic showing something like 9 am! In Signs, the TV story about the aliens not going around water. In The Village, M. Night as a security chief states the past airplane ban! I’m not going to list all of them in Lady from the Sewer. He really writes this stuff like his audience is from the fifties. He doesn’t recognize the history of film and storytelling that has developed our tastes and level of bullshit.
June 14th, 2008 at 6:51 am
One of the worst movies I have ever seen, Lady in the Water was better, and so was Indiana Jones 4….
One of the first movies I was very tempted of walking out of the theater, and I’ve seen some dumb shit at the theaters. Still to this day, haven’t walked out on a movie yet.
I guess the main reason I went to see the movie was Mark Wahlberg, and I kind of like the stories from M Nights movies, but this just made me think he’ll never get to direct another movie ever again, unless its staring just himself in his basement or something.
June 14th, 2008 at 7:08 am
I have a completely different take on the movie. I viewed this movie as a response to the critics who constantly criticize his work. It was too ridiculous to be serious. I think we can all agree that Wahlberg, Deschanel, and Leguizamo have all contributed better performances in the past. I think that the director was satirizing his own work.
June 14th, 2008 at 7:38 am
TErrible! Shymalan should not be allowed to make movies anymore
June 14th, 2008 at 7:43 am
A 68 million dollar budget to satirise your own work?
How does that exactly help his flailing reputation, Sombrero?
June 14th, 2008 at 7:46 am
I went and saw it AFTER The Hulk…and i am so glad. (The Hulk was good just so everyone knows) I did not expect much out of this movie, and while i did not much like the stories of The Village or Lady in the Water i still thought that M. Night was a talented director. But after this i just dont know what he was thinking. Who read this script and thought it was a good idea….
It was not good. If “the planet” finaly did just decide to be done with us (which is ridiculous) i would at least hope that more of the shots were in focus…..
June 14th, 2008 at 7:47 am
I found myself describing this movie to a friend by saying, “M. Night totally nuked the fridge”…….
June 14th, 2008 at 8:41 am
I saw Hulk on Thursday and The Happening last night. Both good and I am glad I saw both. I liked The Happening, it kept me on the edge of my seat and as usual from M. Knight the visuals were really good. But I think the movie was ruined by the acting. I couldn’t take Mark’s character seriously. I guess it was intentional but it didn’t work for me. I think the silly dialogue worked for the most part.
I liked it but didn’t love it.
June 14th, 2008 at 8:59 am
Just watched it. And I liked it. But I’m not objective. I mean, I’m charmed by Shyamalan, and I think I’ll like all his movies, even if he’ll direct a telephone book. lol
June 14th, 2008 at 9:21 am
the happening makes the wicker man remake seem like a masterpiece. go see it and laugh. best comedy of the year.
June 14th, 2008 at 9:56 am
No human talks like they do in Juno either, but you guys still loved it :)
Anyways, before being bashed: I haven’t seen The Happening yet, but I do intend to go next week. I liked The Village.
June 14th, 2008 at 10:23 am
if peter scierietta wrote good reviews about this movie, you guys would all be agreeing with him and saying it was a good movie. but since he has a personal vendetta against any of shamalyn’s movies, you guys go and bash the movie and walk into the theatre with negative vibes. if sciretta wrote a great movie review about meet the spartans, you guys would be all over his nuts, saying it was the best comedy of the year.
i havnt seen the happening yet, but watching the previews, i didnt think “this looks horrible.” you guys r just writing bad reviews on the movie because peter sciretta, the best fucking movie critic on the fucking planet, decided to bash it. fucking suck ups
June 14th, 2008 at 10:26 am
In my theater when Zooey Deschanel reaches to grab the little girl’s hand and Leguizamo gets angry and yells “don’t you grab my daughter’s hand unless you mean it!” the whole theater burst into laughter. When Mark Wahlberg hears the gunshots in the field and says “oh no! i think they’re killing themselves” Then another person says “Are they killing themselves?” and another person says “Everybody’s killing themselves.” Or when Beans from Even Stevens gets shot in the chest and the other little boy gets shot in the head as Wahlberg yells in slow motion, “JERRYYYYY!” Thats too silly to be real
June 14th, 2008 at 10:31 am
The happening is the worst film i have ever seen. Soooooooooooooooooo baaaaaaaaaaaaddddddddddddddd
June 14th, 2008 at 10:32 am
I truly hope the horrific acting was intentional. Everyone in my theater ended up treating it like a comedy, easily one of the worst movies I have ever seen.
June 14th, 2008 at 10:50 am
Script: Sentences are too full, too perfect for a normal person to converse.
Acting: Using the Script, makes the delivery of lines unnatural. Don’t get me wrong, I think Wahlberg is good…but the lines he had to speak…yikes
Visual: Graphic as is disturbing…that was the only thing attractive of the film
Overall: I should’ve watched Hulk instead…shucks
June 14th, 2008 at 10:59 am
I thought it was a good movie. There are always a few who will not find the stuff entertaining. The Village had similar reaction but eventually did well.
June 14th, 2008 at 11:28 am
WORST MOVIE EVER
June 14th, 2008 at 11:40 am
with ANY movie that is made,your going to have people who like it,and those who don’t..no matter what it’s about or whose in it.you can’t please everyone…so with that said, i think the beginning of the movie was good,but the other half did drag a bit so i’m mixed on my feelings about it.since the 6th scence iv’e been a fan of his and even after seeing some bad ones i’ll STILL be excited to see his next film. i guess first impressions do last the longest.one thing i gota give him,he tries to make ORIGINAL movies and not remakes or book to movie creations altho..i am curious how he would direct someone elses idea.hmmm
June 14th, 2008 at 11:56 am
People have unintelligent reasons to hate this movie: People talk weird, there is no villain, there is no twist. I will say that I had low, low expectations for this movie since reading an interview done by the director on The Happening website, in which he basically gave away what’s causing the event, so I knew that walking in.
His execution of the movie was well done. The score was good, the actors weren’t terrible, and the deaths were excellent. I counted maybe 20 on screen deaths, plus a barrage of deaths that you could hear and witness after the deed is done.
Was it his best? No. Is it worth killing 90 minutes for? Maybe. It depends on if you’re the type of person who needs everything spelled out for you, or if you like to think about movies after the initial viewing.
If you want to see a movie just to see a movie, than go see this. If you’re a fan of Shamalamadingdong, I think you’ll enjoy this. The guy is a genius when it comes to directing, it’s just his writing could use some work. The funny scenes were funny, the creepy scenes were creepy, and the movie was enjoyable on a few levels.
POSSIBLE SPOILERS:
The end, for not having a “twist,” was great. I walked away very, very pleased. Some scenes, including people running away from the wind, were a little cheesy. The overall message of people killing the planet, the planet not standing for it, and forcing people to kill each other before they rid The Earth entirely, is a good concept.
6/10
June 14th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Manny: I actually like Shyamalan’s film. Unbreakable is one of my favorites. And truth be told, I actually was one of the only people that liked his last movie, LAdy in the Water. But bottom line: The Happening is bad… very bad.
June 14th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
I LOVED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!YOU HAVE TO DO MORE THEN LOOK AT IT. THINK ABOUT IT???????????? WE ALWAYS HERE FROM OLD PEOPLE HOW THE WORLD IS COMING TO A END HOW ABOUT THE WORLD KEEPS GOING AND KICK US OUT JUST THINK THEY KILLED THERE SELF THEY FELT NO PAIN JUST THINK OF WAKING UP TO PEOPLE DOING THIS AND THERE IS NO WERE TO GO. IT IS JUST THE END AND WE DO IT TO OUR SELF
June 14th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
I don’t want to see it due to the fact that the lines “There appears to be an event happening” and “We just have to be alive when it’s over” were not only written, filmed, and in the final product… but they’re in the trailer.
When two lines that bad are some of your best selling points, I’m not sure I want to see what else is in store.
June 14th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
worst.movie.ever.period. if you disagree, you know nothing about movies. i was a fan of m. night’s other films. however, this one was just awful. there wasn’t any twist! there wasn’t any plot! it shouldn’t have been called the happening because NOTHING HAPPENED! absolutely terrible
June 14th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
I thought it was a really good movie It was somthing new It was his best movie since signs. I love this movie.
June 14th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
i want so very badly, for m night not to get into the same place as george lucas - where he refuses to accept a little help where writing is concerned. night is still a very good filmmaker, and this film was fun for me. i was scared at times, and laughed as well.
one thing i don’t agree with, is the distress over the ‘B’ acting element. it is a twilight zone-like device, and m night seems to be a fan of it. and if you look back at some of our legendary filmmakers, like hitchcock for example, many of his characters deliveries are very cheesy/B, but they work. m night just needs to find out how to make it work in his films. it worked perfectly in ’signs’. sam raimi also pulls it off very well.
there is something in this film that is keeping me from giving it a B+, but i just canb’t put my finger on it. until i do, i gotta give it a B-.
June 14th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
I didn’t really like the movie, but one thing bugged more than anything else:
(MINOR SPOILER)
How could Mark Wahlberg see the little girl off to school at the end of the movie when he’s a teacher and should already be at school himself?
June 14th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
I actually liked it more than The Incredible Hulk and Indy 4, but that’s not saying too much.
There were three or four times that I actually laughed out loud and thought were pretty amazing…. (SPOILERish) when Marky Mark talks to the plant, when he makes up the story about almost buying a superfluous bottle of cough syrup, and near the end when he is staying in the nutty old woman’s house and she says she can hear them talking about her and planning on killing her and he tries to explain that they aren’t.
Minus the first scene in Central Park, which sounded like how you’re taught to open a play in college in the 1970s, I didn’t mind the dialogue or think it was that bad (with the exception being the line about taking the daughter’s hand). I actually thought that some of the highlights of the film came from dialogue (see above, as well as Leguizamo posing the math riddles in the Jeep).
Ultimately, I thought it was an unsatisfying movie that denied the audience of “money shot” kills and something of an explanation or real ending, but that’s not the worst thing. I will say that unlike The Hulk I wasn’t checking my watch and feeling like it was incredibly tedious and tired. There were a few good and interesting things about it.
June 14th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
I hated it. There was no twist and in the first 5 minutes I guessed it was the tree’s.
June 14th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
Bruce Campbell in the lead role and they might have had something. :)
There is a 5 second scene midway through that hints at a decent movie hidden among all the crap. They show some Nebraska survivalists arming themselves to the teeth in a garage. The story possibilities hinted at from that paranoia would have been both disturbing and interesting, but sadly Shyamalan’s story never goes there. The story could have used the botanical nature as a catalyst and then focused on this militant paranoia and the dark side of human nature (especially with regard to political extremes). One town torn apart by political paranoia is a movie I would like to see. There was potential.
68 million to film a group of actors running around in fields. Really, MNS?? This would play if it was done by film students without a budget, but as a film directed and financed by people that should have a clue (the money people are more guilty than MNS), this was truly a terrible film. I just don’t think anyone involved had anything to work with in this mistake of a movie.
Sadly, even James Newton Howard, who usually does superior work for Shyamalan, drops an uninteresting and uninspired effort on the score. You can hate on The Village or Lady in the Water, but those scores are some of the best work out there.
I’m still more disturbed by Spielberg’s effort on IJ4. Maybe the plants ARE up to something.
June 14th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
It was very excellent.
June 14th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
Lmao, Sombrero.
Next time put up some comedic spoiler alerts. Jk!
June 14th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
I feel bad, but I laughed when the young kids were shot.
June 14th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
Manny, I don’t suck up to anyone online.
If you think that others on this site do your wrong.
The Happening, has been knocked around as turd since the first story broke online.
This is one of those films that you can review from outside the theater. (Kinda like Get Smart).
The film is crap , deal with it……….
June 14th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Just saw it. and I’m just gonna say that I’m not a fan of movies that lack a climax. I guess the fact that the title was ‘the happening’ was the trade mark twist of M. Night, because nothing happened…
June 14th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
just realized David had already said what I did. and as a fellow amature film-maker I completely agree with him. I loved M. Night’s other films. Kinda bummed about this one though.
June 14th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
AJ, I’ve heard that M Kight has 3 alternate endings planned for the DVD.
And no I’m not joking………
The sequel will be called “I know its still happening” and will deal with the outbreak of evil flies that then take over for the trees.
Ok, that’s maybe a joke. ;-)
June 14th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
m.night is a very good student film maker, as a real live movie maker, where we don’t forgive gaps in logic and blue filters over scenes that are so disconnected they seem to be from the mind of an autistic, he fails.
if he had less yes men and someone to tell him to make scenes better, he woulld be great.
June 14th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
Night Shyamalan is one of my top ten directors mainly because I love the concepts in his films. I also like that tries to incorporate some kind of religious undertone. This film may have placed me with the other fans who have expressed their opinion as “losing faith in the director.” I going to be honest this film was not that great, but saying “it sucked” MIGHT be a little too harsh. The concept was great: “What is it like to see humanity at its basic primordial state,” very suspenseful right. Wrong, what we actually see on screen is just a family running from the wind and a bunch people killing them self’s, I might add in pretty brutal ways, hints the rating of R. I hate to say this but has M. Night Shyamalan lost his touch or is it just an awesomely bad run of luck. I know fan are about done with M. Night Shyamalan movies, I quote the guy behind me “I will not waste another dollar on his movies again.” I want to believe that there are others out there like me who like M. Night Shyamalan and have some faith in his work. Is this bad run of movies the end of the line? The Village, Lady in the Water, and The Happening some would say has gotten progressively worst and I half way agree. I liked The Village and Lady in the Water but both of there ending were bad. I have the same feelings for The Happening but worst. It also was slow and somewhat boring. The suicide scenes are so brutal all you can say is “Holy Shit,” which also can turns people off. It wasn’t all bad there at lease two good things that came out of this film and that are Mark Wahlberg, and John Leguizamo. Not one to pay for maybe rent but that maybe stretching it also. So if you are like me and are a fan of M. Night Shyamalan and still have some faith in his filmmaking then you MIGHT give it a shoot, when it come out to rent. Until next God bless and happy movie hunting.
June 14th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
To everyone saying this is the worst movie they have ever seen, I’d be right there with you if I hadn’t seen Battlefield Earth.
June 14th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
How dare anyone question the church of environmentalism? All must bow at the altar of Gaia. If you do your research - hell, if you simply go on Wikipedia or have a high school education of Greek mythology - that is what this movie is about. I plan on seeing it just to say I saw, but I have extremely low expectations. M. Night Shyamalan - I love UNBREAKABLE and SIGNS (in my opinion, one of the best movies of all time) but THE VILLAGE, LADY IN THE WATER, and now THIS - I’m sorry, but I can no longer hold out hope you will correct your past mistakes.
June 14th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
When a couple of 15 year old kids are killed, and it is meant to be a serious scene and a packed theatre laughs, you know the movie has descended into House of the Dead territory. Not a good place for M. Night to go.
His strength has always been atmosphere and his weaknesses dialogue but this film takes his weakness to a whole new low but the atmosphere just isn’t there. Complete garbage. AND I LIKED LADY IN THE WATER AND THE VILLAGE!!!!
June 14th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
I can’t believe he used slo-mo during a death scene. SPOILER
The “Joooooooosh” was so dragged out and so awful. The whole movie will make more sense in 30 years when it reaches cult status…unless nature takes over the world by then.
Why you eyein my lemon drink?
June 14th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
Just joined tonight to join in the Night-bashing. Couldn’t believe how incredibly dumb this movie was - my standards were low but this was ground zero for his career.
Can’t remember where I read it, but someone online summed it up perfectly: “It’s like Hitchcock’s The Birds, only without any birds.”
June 14th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
I liked it. It wasn’t as amazing as 6th Sense or Unbreakable, but it was definitely worth the admission price.
June 14th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
I loved this movie and I’m not ashamed of it. I don’t know why it was marketed as a horror movie because it’s not. That’s probably why people are disappointed in the number of scares - it’s not scary. The acting at first was terrible but it seemed to get better later in the movie. And the comedy didn’t seem unintentional. I’m not sure what was/was not intended but I loved what came out. But then again, I liked Lady in the Water (not as much as this, but I did, I admit it) and I agree with Ebert’s review. Loved it.
June 14th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
Something that made this movie that much more enjoyable: I saw it at the World Famous Alamo Drafthouse (Hunter’s favorite and the only place I go to for movies anymore). The preshow entertaiment were old Reel-to-reels of the “Duck and cover” protection against the Atomic bomb. It was the perfect prep for The Happening.
June 14th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
When I left the movie theater, I felt like Shyamalan was laughing somewhere. Like “Hey I got you spent your money bwwaajajajaja”. I knew it would end like that when the “handsome” boy sayd “I think its an act of nature that we will never understand”. It is crap, please dont waste your money, I am still really angry.
June 14th, 2008 at 4:36 pm
I liked Lady in the Water and The Village, so sue me. Unbreakable was my favorite, and Signs and Sixth Sense were so-so.
I knew something was wrong with the Happening when I saw it was around 90 minutes long… M. Night story telling usually does better the longer it is.
June 14th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
i agree with an earlier comment that this was the best comedy of the year
June 14th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
Kyle, at least battlefeild earth had a good ending.
June 14th, 2008 at 5:13 pm
this movie was horrible! the acting was pretty bad, even for an M Night film. A lot of people walked out of this movie that i was at, i condisdered it as well but the last showing of the hulk started fifteen minutes prior to my 11:00 showing so i figured I would tough it out and get my monies worth. epic fail!
June 14th, 2008 at 5:19 pm
Terrible. Terrible. Terrible film. I couldn’t have been the only member of my local cinema waiting for Al Gore to pop-up on-screen with an environmental lecture in one hand and boredom in the other.
With a potentially interesting and intriguing concept at his fingers, M. Night Shyamalan botches the film from the get-go to a cringe-worthy level. From the incredibly wooden acting of Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel, to the hilarious script which gave the film more laughs than gasps.
‘The Happening’ could have been a refreshing end-of-the-world thriller, however instead M. Night Shyamalan found himself creating what can only be described as a shambles. Best part? It only lasted a measly 90 minutes.
June 14th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
This turkey is the “Dreamgirls” of eco-horror.
It’s JUST AWFUL!!!!!!!
Zooey Deschanel is HORRIFIC and spends her screen time opening her eyes as big as possible and pursing her lips…..SCARY , not really..but ANNOYING….FOR SURE!
The only saving grace is Betty Buckley, who saves the day by choosing to play with her part in this cloying screenplay with tongue-in-cheek bravado.
Night’s B movie disclaimer seems like a last ditch attempt to have viewers see “The Happening” as an amusing romp instead of a tragically laughable failure
June 14th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
I liked the film. There were flaws to be sure, but it was entertaining. I thought the ending was weak, and wasn’t sure if the message was eco, political, religious, or directed at angry people. I wondered why the next target was france. that confused me.
really intriguing concept.
i didn’t think the acting was as back as some of the other respondents.
definitely better than “lady”.
June 14th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
I liked it. Didn’t love it, but I really liked it. Not sure why you pinheads keep calling it awful. Awful is something like “Zohan”. Sandler and Apatow seem to not care about us the audience. Night does. He takes risks with his movies. This one included. I thought it worked. And really well. You kids are just too used to MTV/ADD style of crap and don’t have the wiring to appreciate a movie like this. That includes you, Peter. Sorry. It’s true.
June 14th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
Mu brother, Mike, and I went to see it last night. We were both very disappointed.
It seemed to start out well, but tanked about mid way through and never recovered. Mike said that from now on, when we see a movie that doesn’t live up to its promise, we sould say we’ve been Shyamalaned. LOL
June 14th, 2008 at 7:42 pm
I didn’t read any of the comments so my bad if someone pointed it out but I find it funny that you have a problem with the dialog from this movie, calling it ‘unrealistic’ but didn’t have any problem with Juno.
June 14th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
Bad. So bad I can already see people scheduling screenings to marvel at it’s awfulness. This will be a cult classic in the vein of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
June 14th, 2008 at 8:09 pm
I’m proud to say that it is probably the worst movie I have ever seen in a theater. Thank god I saw the Incredible Hulk a few hours before so I evened my day out with a great and a terrible movie.
Shame on you Shyamalan. You’re directing is making great actors look like complete crap.
June 14th, 2008 at 8:50 pm
I enjoyed it, but then I also liked The Village and Unbreakable. (Surprisingly, I didn’t care for The Sixth Sense, but that may have been because of the endless hype.) Not loved, mind you, but I didn’t feel ripped off time- or money-wise.
Nobody was running away from the wind–they were running away from what was carried by the wind. Also, the point was mentioned by Marky Mark–there’s a lot about nature we will never figure out. There’s your explanation right there. Is it any more plausible to say “act of God” or “it’s an alien virus”? I’d buy either in a movie if they set it up right even if I don’t buy them in real life. I guess it’s a matter of where your jump-the-shark- or nuke-the-fridge-thermostat is set.
I don’t think I have low expectations for movies in general, either, and my taste is pretty varied, but not so varied that I would ever consider going to Sex and the City. Hollywood puts out a continual dribble of shite, and I don’t think this qualifies. Someone mentioned The Wicker Man which is a good example and was just inept. Speed Racer comes to mind also. Bubble Boy? Jumper? Bride of Chucky?
The Happening is a pleasant diversion, in six months will be a pleasant diversion again on DVD, and then will disappear into the back catalog of many a movie rental chain, as do most movies.
I don’t want to be this guy, but: Lighten up, people. Reserve your ire for hacks like Uwe Boll and whoever keeps letting Larry the Cable Guy into movies,
June 14th, 2008 at 8:51 pm
Okay I dont know what is wrong with this movie. of course running away from the wind was probably the worst part in the movie, but overall, it was extremely good. i felt that if he wanted to be more gory or whatnot, he would be doing “Texas Chainsaw” or “Scream” or instance. Night did the right thing by holding back because he is now classified as a unique director. Hanging, lawn mower, jeep, jumping, hair pins, window, lions, and the gun was probably the most usual suicides and you have to keep it realistic. this movie was extremely good. the ending was feeble and the beginning was eye-catching, but you got to remember that doing that amount of blood and gore was just right for this genre of horror. too much, just plain stupid. too less. disappointing. this was just right.
i would rate this movie a 3 1/2 for the plot, characters, and and osmly planned out movie.
btw. the INTENTIONAL funny parts are always necessary for horror. you see them in every movie somewhere. just this one was obvious. especially when he was talking to a plastic plant.
June 14th, 2008 at 8:54 pm
Rather, “pleasant-*enough* diversion” in both instances above, meaning no worse or better than a lot of movies out there.
June 14th, 2008 at 9:13 pm
Haha Ali, yeah there’s alot of rage going on here……
I ususally don’t wake up to 69 emails unless somthing big just Happened, or not Happened.
Something happened today.
Dodgers just got there ass kicked by Detroit. Cheww anyone see that game.
Oh sorry, that’s way off.
June 14th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
For the most part, I enjoyed the movie *shrug* I’d give it a B.
My main problems were with the two main characters (although I giggled at the appeal to the plastic plant and his “confession” about the cough syrup) who just mostly fell flat for me.
June 14th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
Just got back from seeing “The Happening.” If I may repeat the best thing that people have said ” The Happening shouldn’t have happened.” Gimmicky, cheap thrills from a writer, producer, director who shouldn’t have and will have to accept all the blame. It’s “The Emperor’s New Film” except people agree how crappy it was. Two ladies got up and walked out in the first 10 minutes. Teenagers smirked and giggled and at the end actually “boo’d.” The theater was virtually empty, but next door “The Hulk” was packed we couldn’t stay to redeem our movie-going night, even a little bit. Better movies than this: Night of the Living Dead. That should tell you everything.
June 14th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
It will be difficult, if impossible to go back to another M. Night movie ever again. Perhaps being a 1-hit wonder or even 2-hit wonder isn’t so bad.
However, on the lighter side Mark Wahlberg and the rest of the cast were quite good and believable. I really enjoyed the performances, but still…..
I think I’ll watch the Sixth Sense or Signs again and forget this one.
June 14th, 2008 at 9:49 pm
I think you nailed it Charlie Rose with that “Emperors new Film” comment.!!
June 14th, 2008 at 10:12 pm
i walked out. it was too much, i can’t handle witnessing such a talented guy waste his career.
June 14th, 2008 at 10:25 pm
We sat through half till it just got too stupid and people in the audience were moaning over the total dumbess of it all or laughing as people died.
I haven’t walked out of a movie since 83. And the kid working was happy to give us a refund.
I saw snakes on a plane twice.
June 14th, 2008 at 10:35 pm
the crappening
June 14th, 2008 at 10:39 pm
Very funny!!! “the crappening.” HI-larious!!!!
Now I’m curious…Mom: what was the movie you walked out on in ‘83? Jaws 3D?
June 14th, 2008 at 10:50 pm
Always was and always will be a one hit wonder.
June 14th, 2008 at 11:02 pm
I think if i put my $8.50 on the ground and pissed on it i would have been more entertained.
This movie was ridiculous
i think al gore was upset his inconvenient truth movie didnt get as much publicity, so he payed off M Night to make a movie heading the warning that we are killing the environment. So what does M Night Make? Attack of the killer bush!!!!
June 14th, 2008 at 11:18 pm
aight…..i guess i should watch it before expecting it to be good….i just thought shymalans movies have been decent, and i didnt understand that this movie could be this bad. i actually think its kinda lame that the tagline for this movie is its his first R rated movie…..
June 14th, 2008 at 11:30 pm
John reminded me of the best quote:
“Why you eyein’ my lemon drink?”
(spoken by the Mom from Eight Is Enough, Betty Buckley who was also Miss Collins from “Carrie” 1976 w/ Sissie Spacek. Classic.)
This movie reminded me of a similar experience with The Blair Witch Project. Remember that?
June 14th, 2008 at 11:32 pm
Rated R…for Refund.
June 14th, 2008 at 11:37 pm
Damn, someone beat me to the Attack of the Killer Tomatoes reference.
June 15th, 2008 at 12:55 am
it was fucking horrible
June 15th, 2008 at 1:13 am
Loved it. Had it’s problems but it was right up my alley. Seemed refreshing even after the plastic overkill of Hulk.
June 15th, 2008 at 2:16 am
I can’t wait for this to come to DVD. I love horrible movies.
June 15th, 2008 at 8:51 am
Can someone say alternate endings?
June 15th, 2008 at 9:18 am
i cant believe this excrement came from the same man who made sixth sense and signs. what happened to him?
June 15th, 2008 at 10:42 am
movie sucked balls..i couldnt believe the scene when there in that spec house and i see a boom mic come into the shot..i mean come on dood..wtf
June 15th, 2008 at 10:56 am
funniest comedy of the 2008 summer!!!!!!!
June 15th, 2008 at 11:18 am
Very frustrating.
I disagree with most. I think its a fantastic idea and a great set up. He just doesn’t follow through with it very well and misses some potential great drama.
Agreed, performances, not so great. People standing around trying to analyze the situation, felt like watching a powerpoint presentation.
I liked the plastic tree scene though.
Whereas I would say Lady in the Water wasn’t worth a viewing, this is at least worth watching on cable. M Night, what happened?
Did anyone else notice the obligatory Spielberg-ish unnecessary half hour prolonged ending?
June 15th, 2008 at 11:24 am
for me this was Shyamalans last chace which he failed miserably at.
June 15th, 2008 at 11:31 am
I kinda liked it. It wasn’t the top rank of his movies post sixth sense, but it was ok. There were some great moments, and the beginning was very disturbing.
Some of the line of dialogue was a little campy, I admit that, but overall I liked it. 6.0 on a 10 scale.
June 15th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
The whole movie felt like it was building up to an ending that never happened. I usually wait to see if he will pack in a twist at the end and well, he definitely had the idea. I enjoyed the ending scene where he walked outside of the house (I’m being ambiguous for spoilers sake)
I also thought the whole GET OFF MY PORCH scene was pretty ballsy.
Like I said it seemed like it was building to an ending that never happened. Was I the only one who noticed that whenever the attacks would happen someone, somewhere, would always be angry/fighting?
I thought the twist was going to be that was the stimulus.
Then again, that probably would have been even more of a preachy slap in the face.
June 15th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
It reminded me of a good Sci Fi Channel B Movie. It’s probably my least favorite of his films, but I’ve definitely seen worse.
I loved the old crazy lady smashing her face through the windows. That was really the only part that got me.
June 15th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
everybody realises that all of m. nights’ movies are not supposed to viewed as literal realistic documentaries filmed in real-time?
he hasn’t made a bad film since unbreakable, it just seems as though people don’t know how to interpret his movies outside of the “this has a twist and is supposed to be scary in some way”.
Why is the guy supposed to make the same movie every time?
June 15th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
You make a good defense Robin…
Let’s hope M Kight, learns from this and does somthing totally original next time.
June 15th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
I thought it was really good, certainly entertaining. Audience was responsive to the humor (hot dog man, hot pharmacist story).
I only had to requests to the movie gods before entering the theater on Friday. 1) M Night leave the reason behind the attacks totally ambiguous in the end, and 2) he doesn’t wuss out on the gore and death.
My reasoning on 1 was basically, I’m already expecting a snappy twist which ties everything together in the last scene going in, the only real Night could deliver would be to, well, not deliver it. This is the perfect film to invoke discussion post viewing, where different ideas and theories could be explored. In other words, you don’t just walk out of the theater and immediately forget what you just watched. You actually ponder and try to make sense of things. I’m still rolling everything around. That’s the very same reason I enjoy reading.
and 2, well, basically we are going in to see a movie about people snuffing themselves in mass. Only way to really grasp the full horror of such a situation would be to see it. I think.
And more or less, he came through on my private hope list. I thought some of the scenes with the wind were very effective. Because, even while we are watching the characters flee from it, I think we are suppose to be wondering in the back of our minds whether it even is some air borne agent. There is just so much doubt and confusion, counter info.
Really does either force you to sit back afterwards and digest and organize everything to put everything together, or simply and lazily dismiss it as a failure.
There was no “water kills the aliens” or “you’re dead, Bruce” or “mr glass is a comic villian!” reveals in this movie. I think a lot of the movie going audience, if not handed the answer at some point, flips out and gets angry. Get offended that a movie is going to force them to think to completely enjoy the film.
Again, I thought the movie was really good. Certainly redeemed himself for The Village in my book.
June 15th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
People! People! This Movie is NOT even worth renting if you’re waiting for it to come out on DVD!! Seriuosly is the worst movie ever made, Nothing is Explained at the end!
June 15th, 2008 at 7:14 pm
Case in point. *ahem*
June 15th, 2008 at 9:26 pm
Only the simple mind of a child needs full disclosure.
June 16th, 2008 at 12:17 am
I personally avoided reading any reviews on this film. I wanted an unbiased opinion on MNS’s work. After watching it, I must advise anyone with the slightest bit of intelligence to avoid this film. It was horrible. Walberg and Deschanel looked like B level actors. The whole point of the movie was given away too early, with a pan to the trees after the lady stabs herself in the park. The dialog was ridiculous. News footage made the mysterious threat too obvious. The lion scene, omg, that was the funniest shit i have ever seen - and it obviously was meant to be serious. I will never watch another MNS film, ever. Seriously, he blew his load too early. He will never lure me into another film, regardless of how enticing the trailer is. This film is not even worth renting. Avoid at all costs.
June 16th, 2008 at 12:38 am
Haha. Yeah Andrew I agree.
Good review.
People rag on Speed Racer as crap, no this is crap, Speed was ahead of its time.
June 16th, 2008 at 1:36 am
If this was meant to be a pastiche on B-movies, I think MNS missed his mark.
There were some flashes of genius, but it would have worked so much better even if there was no dialog… And what was John Leguizamo doing in it?
My only explanations are that MNS did it either as a bet/dare, or he wanted to get out of a studio deal by producing this overworked awfulness.
(BTW, Did anyone spot Dante from Clerks (Brian O’Halloran) playing the Jeep Driver? What the hell?)
June 16th, 2008 at 1:38 am
Oh, and MNS played “Joey” - the implication is that he didn’t appear at all in the film. The guy next to Zooey Deschanel was not MNS.
Just following on from that - was that the lamest affair alluded to on film ever?
June 16th, 2008 at 5:03 am
VERY< VERY FUNNY. 7.5/10
Betty Buckley is hilarious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
June 16th, 2008 at 7:12 am
I saw the movie on Father’s Day,and I must say that it wasn’t my favorite M. Night movie to date.I must admit though; that it provoked thought,and that is what art is supposed to do.My sons,and I,had a great conversation,after the movie,of which we all agreed that it wasn’t the best that we had seen in a while,but that it had some redeeming value.M. Night should stick to what he does best,which are movies with a twist.This one,though entertaining,left us feeling as if the plot was unresolved.Maybe that was his point.Science will never fully answer the questions that this natural world will present.The one thing that arises in this movie,and others like it,is the fact that life will find a way.
June 16th, 2008 at 7:59 am
@Robin: I think you mean he hasn’t had a GOOD film since Unbreakable.
June 16th, 2008 at 8:06 am
I went to see the movie on Saturday afternoon. I am a fan of Night, but not this film. I felt that nothing much happened… in The Happening. I haven’t given up on him though, I will still go to the theater to see his films.
June 16th, 2008 at 8:23 am
robert>> I’ll admit he hasn’t made an AMAZING film to the same level that unbreakable and sixth sense were, but by no means are the other movies he’s made really that bad, either.
like, for example—after watching the village, I did not think “oh, it was all in the park, the people are the monsters, omg twist”..I interpreted that movie as a love story between the females (bryce dallas howard, sigourney weaver) and males (jouqain phoenix, william hurt) of the story, and the various aspects of all relationships that people go through, and how they feel as they go through them…which were all amplified by the various metpahors throughout the film (I mean, you think she’s blind ONLY to use that as a plot device later on in the movie? Come on guys!). At no point did I look at that film as something I was expecting to be scared by. I don’t think thats fair to the director, and I think its lazy as a viewer to just always expect the same thing from them as well.
I’ve yet to see this guy yet, but I imagine it’ll probably go over the same way. He’s a lot more clever than people give him credit for. And yeah, his execution can be lacking at points, but not even comparably to other contemporary film makers.
June 16th, 2008 at 8:43 am
@Christopher Hoult
Ha yeah dude I thought I was the only one who saw him! What a random cameo. I’m guessing he had a bigger part in the movie that was left on the cutting room floor.
June 16th, 2008 at 9:00 am
my dad wanted to see something scary, and i wanted to take him to the movies for fathers day. we went to see this. i liked it, it was pretty good, it wasnt awesome or anything, but it wasnt bad at all. The concept could have been a bit more realistic, the first thing me and my dad did was relate how it ‘could’ play out in real life. it was an ok movie, but i wish it was better. I wanted to see more violence. the best part was the guys falling off the buildings, and that was at the start of the movie, it never got ‘worse’. o well. i think i would give it a 6 out of 10…
June 16th, 2008 at 9:09 am
Did anyone else feel like this was a B movie style? cheesy dialogue, I dont know why it was rated R? a couple scenes were something to cheer about, but other than that… the movie blew chunks
June 16th, 2008 at 9:42 am
True. I didn’ t mind The Village so much. But I couldn’t stand The Lady in the Water and Signs was a terrible joke of a movie IMO. I think he has some clever ideas, but an overinflated ego which leads him to over direct everything and it just comes off so stiff and forced and lifeless, I can hardly stand it. Plus I don’t think he’s a very good writer. Good ieads are one thing but that doesn’t mean you can actually write. I thought the Sixth Sense was way over rated and I think what I like most about Unbreakable was the concept, more so than the execution, which was adequate. Maybe if he spent less time trying to be clever and more time trying to actually write decent dialogue and loosen up a little bit he’s make better films. He seems to have bought into his own hype. He’s like an amateur with some good ideas who is in over his head.
June 16th, 2008 at 11:28 am
I thought it was an enjoyably creepy, scary, funny, 90-minute thrill ride. I loved the suspense of sense of dread that kept building throughout. People need to caaaalm down.
June 16th, 2008 at 11:55 am
OK. I’m a recent film school grad, and maybe that makes alot of people jerks, but I have a different take on the film, one that I havent seemed to read anywhere else. (I’ll try and make it short)
ok, so, YES i agree that this movi9e was ridiculous, but no one has seemed to think that maybe M. Night did this on purpose (There are alot of art films out there not in the public eye that do this all the time to prove points).
Without getting too wrapped up in this and typing way too much I want to say one more thing.
People have been complaining about how the science of this movie just does not work. I did some research and found that YES the science is wrong, but here’s the thing. M. Night is NOT a scientist, hes a filmmaker. A person who takes his ideas and (trys, at least) to turn them into art, not fact.
In the movie, the plants make us do what?…KILL OURSELVES, becase this movie (which is a metaphor for Global Warming) is telling us that if we dont make a real global change all we’re doing is…Killing Ourselves.
Thanks for hearing me out.
Shawn
June 16th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
what a good film, i have no idea why ppl are hating this one so much.
every department scores, i even loved the old school background score with the strings. good photography, good acting, loved the one shot jeep crashing into tree, everything was good. loved the story too. loved the whole evolution, psychoactive element.
loads of people were pissing in their pants in the theatre. it DID scare ppl and did its job, and very well too.
to each his own. i loved the movie and would mind buying the dvd when its out.
peace,
Cowax
June 16th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
I thought overall it was an interesting movie, however there were too many unexplained events to make it great. Is anyone else wondering why the blond girl in the very beginning and the french guy at the very end weren’t affected?
June 16th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
Peter, I’m not sure why you’ve picked up a personal vendetta against this film / M Night, but it really isn’t as awful as you’re trying to make out. In fact, it’s quite good. Whilst I’ll agree that the acting is in some points a touch wooden, there are other points in the movie that are genuinely scary/shocking. Yes there are plot holes and sometimes they’re poorly covered up - but again that happens in lots of films.
The one thing I really didn’t appreciate however was the ending where it seemed that Shamalayn was blowing on his new found eco-political trumpet as a lot of writer/directors seem to be at the moment
June 16th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
ok, enough is enough. No M. Night is not the greatest diector ever but neither is he the worst. If anything he should be praised for doing what all directors set out to do when they first start, WHAT THEY WANT TO DO.
Most of his movies are not box office blockbusters, so he is obviously not in this for themoney. He makes these movies based on what HE would like to see, rather than pandering to the masses and the execs. at the studios. Unlike some of the other highly praised directors (i wont mention any names here but think about ruined trilogies) his work is the purest form of art. It comes from the heart.
If anything, he is alot like another famous director that he himself idolizes, Alfred Hitchcock. Hitchcock only made a handfull of FAMOUS movies and a