THE HAPPENING
a happening review of.. THE HAPPENING
Why is it happening? What is happening? Will this review actually be happening? Well... The latest installment by the master of modern day suspense, M. Night Shyamalan, is a disappointing tale of what could have been happening for this movie.
Elliot Moore (Mark Wahlberg) plays a school science teacher. He is teaching when an incident occurs which affects New York City. This escalates into a supposed terrorist attack and results in something quite bizarre (even for a horror movie) A chemical virus is being released into the air by nature and it is targetting all groups of human life. Elliot and his wife (Zooey Deschanel) must flee the city before they too are infected. The virus affects the nervous system which causes its victims to; cease movement, then repeat a word or phrase and finally, it causes the subject to kill themself in any way possible.
Just to be clear.. The premise of this movie is suicide, so its definitely not for the faint hearted. It begins with some truly disturbing scenes. From a woman piercing her own neck, to men jumping off buildings to their deaths. Shyamalan has the ability to make any scene and any object creepy. Many of his fans, and any fan of horror, will find the first 45 minutes very haunting and confronting. The movie does suffer from a suicide of its own, coming in the form of the halfway point. The suspense seems to dwindle and its pretty uneventful. Wahlberg is excellent throughout the movie and whilst the other cast do little he seems to attract attention and entertain the audience through the dull moments.
The major dissappointment of this movie is the realization of its antagonist. Whilst most virus/horror movies opt for a disease or plague or even a deadly insect as its villain, this director/writer/producer creates something which some may think is unique and many will think is downright stupid. The villain is FLORA: grass, trees, plants, flowers.. etc!. Before you laugh, Shyamalan does a surprinsingly great job of making grass and trees look menacing. Personally, I haven't been comfortable when walking through an empty street at night and a tree or bush sways through the breeze. The movie also lacks from a signature 'twist' from a director famed from endings such the one in The Sixth Sense.
There are some major faults in this movie on a creative aspect but the cinematography and tight camera angles do create wanted stress and tension that you cannot experience by simply looking at trees in real life. The acting is above par and Wahlberg only increases his value in Hollywood as a believable and funny protagonist. The scenes in which self mutilation occurs, especially the lawnmower death, will be remembered.. if not scar you for life. Yet there are too many questions left unanswered in this movie. It's frustrating walking out of a film that has had so much potential in the beginning only to see it trail off into nothing. There are some interesting areas within this movie which some may notice. Humans do not hurt each other, they simply hurt themselves. The enemies arent really seen as such, and the hero isn't exactly heroic. These techniques are very unique and demonstrate to the creativity of Shyamalan who does deserve some credit. It is not the best work by any means of M Night .Many fans will be impressed but all will know that this movie could have been so much better. With more terrors and less errors this movie could have really been 'happening'.
THE GOOD
-Some scenes may give you nightmares... or at least goosebumps
-Wahlberg is likable and has some funny scenes
-Cinematography enhances the tension
-Humans killing themselves is fairly unique
-Could change your perspective on swaying trees
THE BAD
-The idea
-story is weak
-Ending is an anticlimax
-Trees are the enemies
IN SHORT
Better than watching the grass... blow
