Today mom and I wanted to go see Get Smart; but, since this weekend is my husbands and my anniversary, and he wants to see Get Smart, we decided to watch something else. So we headed out to see The Happening, which turned out to be nothing more than a GREAT BIG disappointment.
It's official: M. Night Shyamalan is no longer the next Spielberg. After the stellar Sixth Sense and the equally excellent Unbreakable, he's managed a downward spiral that few others writers could survive. Signs was alright, but with The Village, Lady in the Water, and now The Happening, he has touched a level of incompetence that could never have been expected of him.
"The Happening" contains a horrifying premise, and, at least for the first forty-five minutes, Shyamalan is on his game in a way that he hasn't quite been since "Signs."
One beautiful fall morning, all activity in New York's Central Park suddenly stops as an ominous breeze overtakes the citizens, first disorienting them and then causing each and every one to gruesomely take their own life. Further downtown, construction workers begin leaping off buildings. As news of these mysterious catastrophic events sweeps down the northeastern seaboard, so does the epidemic. Soon, rumors begin flying of terrorist involvement, while others think the local nuclear power plant may be responsible. All anyone really knows is that the psychological virus is spreading and no one appears immune... or safe. Hoping to outrun whatever it is that's occurring, Philadelphia science teacher Elliot Moore (Mark Wahlberg) and math professor Julian (John Leguizamo), along with Elliot's wife Alma (Zooey Deschanel) and Julian's young daughter Jess (Ashlyn Sanchez), prepare to travel southward. When the train conductors lose contact with the outside world, the group is left stranded in the direct center of the hot zone with seemingly no escape..
Unfortunately, Shyamalan's writing is a big let-down for the rest. As the focus moves from the metropolitan to towns and from crowds to smaller groups, the sense of fear is lost – the biggest sin a horror movie can commit.
My advice, don't waste your money.
