Movie Reviews, Opinions, and Theories

       Those who were fans of The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs, and even The Village would have been excited to take part in M. Night Shyamalan’s new film, The Happening. Putting myself in that category, I went from being excited to becoming utterly disappointed. After the failure that was Lady in the Water, I felt that Shyamalan would bounce back with another brilliant piece.  Boy was I wrong.  The Happening really was not happening at all.What the film really lacked was character development.  We really do not know much about the characters in the film.  The main characters are Elliot (Wahlberg), Alma (Zooey Deschanel), Julian (Leguizamo), and Jess (Ashlyn Sanchez).  Elliot, a high school science teacher leads the charge in saving the Northeastern tip of the U.S.  He is married to Alma, who supposedly does not fully commit to her life’s decisions such as rushing into marriage. We later find our that she had lunch with another man named Joey, re-enforcing her lack of commitment.  This so called controversy in the film does not even result in any tension between the “unhappily” married couple.  Through the turmoil of this catastrophic event, Elliot and Alma re-kindle their marriage by taking Jess under their wings.  Jess’ father Julian goes on a search for his wife, who we never meet in the film.  Towards the beginning of the film, the media decides that this is a terrorist attack on the United States. We later find that the plants on the Northeast are feeling threatened, therefore are releasing a neuro-chemical gas that inhibits neurotransmitters, therefore causing the individual to commit suicide.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             It is no mystery that Shyamalan is a very creative writer/director with tons of potential. But, but just like in Lady in the Water, he takes a great idea and lets it crumble in his hands.  An idea such as humans vs. mother nature is one that is not seen often enough. The premise is very creative an has potential for high complexity, but Shyamalan does not let this film or his previous film excel as it should.  The shaking and rattling of tress and shrubs is hardly horrifying, nor does it seem threatening.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    The one actor in the film that you tend to cling to is Elliot who is played by Mark Wahlberg. His scientific knowledge mixed with a somewhat comedic performance is what keeps the film afloat. None of the characters in the film were remotely believable.  People are flopping to their death left and right and yet the film lacks human emotion.  The poor acting performance of approximately 98% is what leads this film to it ultimate demise.   Shyamalan needs more density in his films if he is going to succeed in becoming one of the great filmmakers.  If not, he is going to have to resort to basking in the success of his prior films.  It’s safe to say that M. Night Shyamalan’s stock is beginning to plummet it is going to take another Sixth Sense to his revive image as a modern day Alfred Hitchcock.  

What is M. Night Shyamalan’s best film?
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