"Well, after The disappointing Village and the incredibly dull Lady in the Water; The Happening seems to be a restarting point of sorts for Shamylan."
Bodies catapulting themselves off of construction sites--hitting the ground with hard, wet thuds... A man lying down, waiting for the teeth of a lawnmower to take him... A woman suddenly stabbing her own throat... Yep... Something is definitely in the air...
As most should know from the gratuitous previews for the Happening's controversial "R" rating; M. Night is back with a vengeance to reclaim his seat as an amazing storyteller like that of Hitchcock (which he has compared himself)... But after two recent flops--both in gross and reviews--does anyone even care?
Following the recent trend of cinema focusing on post 9/11 fears, the Happening weaves a suicidal tale of paranoia and suspicion around abnormal behavior and actions. When large quantities of people begin offing themselves in progressively gruesome ways, public speculation believes it to be a terrorist attack of sorts. But as the "attacks" continue to defy thought and reason, opinions shift and loyalties wane--forcing everyone into a constant hysteria as they try and flee whatever force is reeking the violent havoc.
Leading the acting pack is ol' Marky Mark... I mean, Mark Wahlberg as a high-school science teacher married to a secretive and emotionally distant Zooey Daschanel. Also along for the apocalyptic ride is John Leguizamo and even that "Horris" fella from that 90's show, Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman (funny what we remember, eh?). Performances are solid for the most part and I'm happy that Zooey finally shows something other than monotone boredom... There have been some complaints about some sequences of over-acting, but I think that just seems that way because of the script that--while fine for the majority of the film--has moments of questionable writing--and thus--delivery.
Another complaint that I've witnessed among many reviewers is the fact that the actual "happening" is never truly described. And well... It actually is... At multiple scenes the idea is constantly thrown out that this is--to wrap it all up--the earth is pretty pissed-off and is getting back at all of us... While it's true that this is just character speculation, that should suffice. To come right out and say what's causing all of the problems not only destroys any suspense, but it also takes away any aspect of thought that the viewer could apply to the film. The film is incredibly straightforward and easy to understand. There is no big "twist" at the end like in his previous works, but for a film like this, you don't need one.
Honestly, one of the only real problems I had with the film is the over-dependence on the "R" rating. The content here is nothing shocking and feels more like a tad-harder PG-13 than an R-rated feature. I'm glad that M. Night is taking chances, but trying to push the rating so much feels like a cheap way to sell your movie--especially when the content therein is hardly different than that seen within something of a lesser-rating (just look at the pervasively violent and stupidly pathetic Live Free or Die Hard which was PG-13).
Well, after The disappointing Village and the incredibly dull Lady in the Water; The Happening seems to be a restarting point of sorts for Shamylan. While it's far from great and lacks the sort of staying power that the Sixth Sense and Unbreakable entailed--it still proves that the director hasn't yet lost his magic as both a writer and director.
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