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The Happening 4 out of 10 Posted: 06/29/08
Running time: 1:30 MPAA rating: R (Violent and disturbing images.) Peruvian rating: Mayores de 18
Cast:
Mark
Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel, John Leguizamo, Ashlyn Sanchez, Betty
Buckley.
Score:
James
Newton Howard |
 |
Warning: This review contains some spoilers… does anybody care?
The Happening is one weird movie. Really. It tries to be a thriller, but it doesn’t excite. It tries to be a horror movie, but it doesn’t’ scare. It tries to be a drama, but it doesn’t touch the viewers’ sensitive side. It tries to be a “message film”, but the so-called message is slammed into the viewer’s eyes so unsubtly, that one ends up not caring about it. Actually, M. Night Shyamalan’s latest turd makes the viewer care for nothing. The characters? They’re robots. The plot? What plot? The suspense? Well, if you find shots of trees and shrubbery moving with the wind scary, then yes, you’ll be pretty horrified by what’s being shown onscreen. Don’t take me wrong, though. I was horrified… but by the quality of the film. Shyamalan may have made a couple of entertaining films, (they would be Unbreakable and Signs. The Sixth Sense is overrated) but with The Happening he has demonstrated that he’s a terrible director and, more disturbingly, an awful screenwriter. The Happening is not only bad; it’s stupid and boring.
The premise is somehow interesting. It’s the execution that sucks. Some kind of toxin has been released in New York's Central Park, causing people to become disoriented and kill themselves. The airborne killer soon spreads throughout Manhattan, then goes to Boston and Philadelphia, and ultimately attacks the whole North East of the United States. The film tells the story of how robotic high school teacher Elliot (Mark Wahlberg); his equally inexpressive wife, Alma (Zooey Deschanel); his best friend, Julian (John Leguizamo); and Julian's young daughter, Jess (Ashlyn Sanchez) try to survive this crisis. They escape by train from Philadelphia just before the epidemic hits, but end up in the rural part of Pennsylvania, escaping from the wind (yes, the wind) and trying to find a safe place.
M. Night Shyamalan became famous because most of his movies share some interesting characteristics: they were creepy, and they had surprising twists. (Well, I wasn’t surprised by the twist in The Sixth Sense, but that’s another story.) The Happening has none of these. Granted, there are a couple of gory death scenes – for being mindless zombie-like creatures who have been infected by a mysterious toxin, the victims are surprisingly creative when deciding how to kill themselves -, but most of the “creepy” parts that are supposed to scare the viewer are more boring than frightening. Shots of leaves moving along the wind? Shrubbery indicating the direction of the wind? An old hag trying to scare the protagonists out of her house? It’s all pretty laughable and, to be frank, ridiculous.
Additionally, for a film called The Happening, there’s very little actually happening. The epidemic starts, our protagonists flee (John Leguizamo dies along the way… he was the most “lively” of the characters, he should’ve had more screentime), they wait… and wait… and wait… the epidemic ends, they start to live happily again, and the French start to kill themselves. There’s no ending. The movie just decides to stop, and there are no consequences for the protagonists. They lived through the event, it ended, and they continue with their lives as if nothing had happened. Oh yes, and let’s not forget about the environmental message Shyamalan tries to inject on the viewer’s mind. Believe it or not, I actually like “message movies”, as long as the message they’re trying to convey is presented in a tasteful manner that feels at home with the plot. The Day After Friggin’ Tomorrow had a message. It wasn’t that subtle, but it didn’t feel preachy. (The fact that the movie was pure spectacle filled with special effects also helped.) The Happening feels preachy. A freakin’ scientist talks about the message during one of the last scenes. It feels contrived and it feels artificial.
Performances don’t help either. I’ve always said that Shyamalan has directed his actors in a really weird way. Bruce Willis seemed asleep in The Sixth Sense. Mel Gibson looked worried all the time in Signs. And in The Happening, Mark Wahlberg (who is a pretty good actor, actually) gives a horrible performance, Zooey Deschanel (who is a really cute and immensely talented actress) acts and moves like a robot, and John Leguizamo (who has never lacked energy) looked bored. It must take a really crappy director to ruin the performances of these actors. Wahlberg’s delivery of lines is really awkward (the way he tries to convince the old hag they’re not trying to steal her things or kill her is unintentionally funny), and Zooey acts like a zombie all the time. (The way she recites her lines is weird too.) Oh, and don’t start talking to me about the lines these guys have to say. The script is full of clichés, cheesy lines, and things that no one would say in really life. Actually, none of these characters feels real. Not for one second.
This review may seem like a rant. Well, it is a rant. The Happening is not only a stupid and lame “suspense” film; it’s also a disappointment. Even though Lady in the Water had been pretty crappy, I still had some faith in Shyamalan because of Signs and Unbreakable. Well, next time I’ll know better. The Happening is one of the most awkwardly shot, directed and written movies I’ve ever seen: virtually nothing happens during its (mercifully) short running time; performances are weird, delivery of lines is unconvincing, the message the movie tries to convey is as subtle as a pop-up that occupies half of a computer screen, and the screenplay is idiotic, to say the least. The trailer and the posters make the film seem like a big-budget disaster movie, when it actually is a thrill-less motion picture with a gory scene here or there that could have been shot for any amateur filmmaker for less than 2000 bucks. Don’t go watch The Happening. Believe me, you’ll be disappointed, bewildered and, most alarmingly, bored to tears.
©2008 Sebastián Zavala - GG site