Despite some easily forgiven logistical flaws, M. Night Shyamalan's first three films - 'The Sixth Sense', 'Unbreakable' and 'Signs' - were amazingly effective and confident thrillers.
Sadly, Shyamalan's latest is the complete opposite. It is a film I'm tempted to call terrible and certainly his worst effort yet.
I'm not sure if his confidence was shaken after the critical lambasting of 'The Village' and the commercial underperforming of 'Lady in the Water,' but 'The Happening' feels like a film from a completely different filmmaker. It feels like a movie from someone who never had a handle on the beats and dialogue that can create effective tension.
The script isn't simply implausible a la 'Signs' but just downright clunky. Not a single line of dialogue rang true for me.
Part of this is might be due to the casting where headliner Mark Wahlberg visibly struggles to find some sort of attachment to his high school teacher character, but the line drubbings don't stop with Wahlberg as usually dependable Zooey Deschanel and John Leguizamo also come across as just awkward.
That old adage that if all the students fail, blame the teacher might apply here. The concept that drives the film is fine and could have made for an interesting, scientific ode to our times. Combined with Shyamalan’s much-hyped first dabble with the gore and violence that comes with an R-rating, this could and should have been a darker, more mature progression to his filmography.
The opening quickly writes a gruesome check the rest of the film can't cash as unexplainable suicides happen en masse throughout Central Park. People stab, shoot and throw themselves off buildings in a sort of masochistic version of the first chapters of Stephen King's 'Cell'.
Of course, early blame is thrown at terrorists and chemical warfare but teacher Elliot Moore (Wahlberg) whose first scenes discuss the "bee theory" aka the wrathful punishing hand of nature develops other ideas.
The specifics of the plot are threadbare stuff and even at a thrifty 1 hour 25 minute running time sans end credits, scenes seem to linger too long.
The emotion, what little there is, comes from the marriage squabbles of Elliot and his flitty wife Alma (Deschanel) who wasn't quite ready for marriage and carries the guilt of an infidelity close call. They carry these awkward silences in their attempted escape from Philadelphia along with most of the Northeast which is in mass pandemonium.
Along with colleague Julian’s (John Leguizamo) daughter, they try to separate themselves from crowds thinking it might be groups of people that are attracting these fatal toxins.
Arriving in the middle of nowhere, the survivors are left to either accept their fate or come up with a cause and solution. An agoraphobic climax is nothing new to Shymalan who use these themes to much better effect in 'Signs' and even 'The Village'.
The mystery behind the suicides was intriguing enough at the beginning but as the indulgent, unfocused comprehension of what's 'happening' slowly reveals itself, expect to be downright annoyed.
The idea behind it isn't necessarily bad but Shyamalan's execution is exasperating as he never really decides to make clear at what was teased at. A newscast crutch is thrown in there as some sort of explanation surrogate that obviously belies the fact that Shymalan knew how to end it.
This being a Fox screener review copy, video and audio is not finalized but I imagine a solid 1.85:1 transfer will be in store for fans on street date.
Special Features include 'Deleted Scenes', 'The Hard Cut', a featurette focusing on the decision to make 'The Happening' R-rated.
Other featurettes include 'I Hear You Whispering' which takes a look at a key character towards the end of the film, 'Visions of The Happening' a standard making-of, 'A Day for a Night' is a seven-minute window into how M. Night works during a full days shooting and 'Elements of a Scene' which looks at a car crash sequence. Trailers and a Gag Reel round out the extras.
Definitely disappointing, at this point I think it's a good move for Shymalan to tackle a completely different genre with his upcoming cartoon adaptation 'Avatar: The Last Airbender.' There's no doubt he's got skills as a filmmaker, but I think some different muscles need to be stretched.
As 'The Happening' goes, I can't recommend it to anybody but the most staunch M. Night Shymalan fans who might at the very least enjoy seeing the usually family-friendly director tackle some gore.
The Happening is now available at Amazon . It is available for pre-order at AmazonUK for a Nov. 3rd release. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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