The Happening (DVD, 2009, Checkpoint; Sensormatic; Widescreen)

You don't have to be a major film fan to realize that writer/director M. Night Shyamalan basically has created movies that slowly go less and less into his first works The Sixth Sense in overall quality. But when it was announced that Fox wanted him to make his first ever "R" rated picture, would that be enough to break him out of his never-ending slump?

Nope.

The Happening stars Mark Walberg as a high school science teacher who among everyone else in his Pennsylvania suburb hears that an airborne biological terrorist attack has landed in New York causing it's victims to lose control and find a way to commit suicide. As residents flee towards help, soon they realize that this attack has spread over the Northeastern portion of the United States and that they're right in the middle of it. But is this plague manmade or of a more natural kind? Could it be caused by nature itself? Will anybody know or care after watching this dreck?!!?

I doubt it. While "M" and this film try to be all scientific-like interesting, it truly falls amazingly flat. To be honest, this is M. Night's absolute worse film. First, the infected all basically do the same thing which is babble for a second, walk backwards, and find some way to kill themselves, all the while looking like they are still in complete control. Another is the dialouge. While the acting isn't all that great to begin with, I personally haven't heard words written this bad since some kid named Anakin was breaking some pregnant chick's heart. At times I truly felt more for myself watching this than for the victims screaming at the sight of seeing a brisk breeze of air flowing ever so calmly in front of them. Oh my God, WIND!!!!!

However, an "R" rating does mean something had to earn it and in a small way it has. Some of the suicides are a bit clever, and yes, even reach R graphicness, but there's just not enough of them to save this movie. In fact, M. Knight himself (through interviews and deleted scenes) cut a few himself, not in fear of the MPAA, but out of thinking less is more. But trust me, the more the merrier really could have helped this fart of a flix. The disc itself does have alot of special features including deleted scenes (that are terrible), documentaries, and also a gag reel (that doesn't have one single blooper....where's the gag?). But no matter what he added to this presentation, nothing could change just how sophomoric and painfully lame this film is.

An amazingly bad movie, without any of the style this director made with his first three films, avoid at all costs. You'll never look at a wind-blown tree in a park the same way again. Because it will now forever remind you of this lame blowhard of a movie.
(RedSabbath Rating:4.0/10)

Features Actors: Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel, Ashyln Sanchez & John Leguizamo.
Running time: 90 Minutes.
DVD has special features.

The concept behind “The Happening” is absolutely terrifying.

The story begins one morning in New York’s Central Park. People walking through the park become disoriented, lost in thought, repeating things they have just said & taking steps backwards. Then, they start killing themselves by any means available to them. Authorities are at a loss to explain the events, but terrorism is not ruled out. When a similar attack hits Philadelphia, high school science teacher Eliot Moore (Mark Wahlberg) and his semi-estranged wife Alma (Zooey Deschanel) – along with Eliot’s friend Julian (John Leguizamo) and his daughter Jess (Ashlyn Sanchez) – board a train for western Pennsylvania. The train stops abruptly in a small town because the conductors have lost contact with “everyone,” leading them to think their final destination has also come under attack. Elliot meets a man who owns a nursery, who suspects that the attacks are not terrorists but nature itself turning on man. Stuck in rural Pennsylvania, Elliot puts his science smarts to the test to stay one step ahead of nature, which is all around him.
Whats happening is anyone anywhere is not safe.

This movie was good, keeps you entertained and may put some thoughts into your head even after the movie has ended,would recommend to rent and to buy to anyone who is a big fan of M. Night Shyamalan.Hope this helps you decide.Please click YES at the bottom.Thanks for taking the time to read this! :)

M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, The Village, Lady in the Water and more) has done it again with The Happening.

Mark Wahlberg (The Departed, Invincible) Plays Elliot a science teacher in Philadelphia. Elliot hears of an attack on New York and along with his wife played by Zooey Deschanel and some of his friends they make plans to 'get out of dodge.'

The story progresses as Elliot and his party learn more and more of what is really going and as they try to avoid it. This all builds up to a very stunning and strange ending to a great movie.

This movie will keep you on the edge of your seat throughout and will definitely entertain anyone who loves a great sci-fi/horror movie.

Rated a 5 of 5 for a great story line and great acting.

Do Not Miss This One..

To be fair, The Happening opens with a fantastically well thought out put together scene! In New York's Central Park, at 8.33AM a woman on a park bench jabs herself in the neck until dead. Cut to the next scene and men are willingly throwing themselves off a building site! SPLAT! As we soon learn, an airborne toxin which causes those engulfed to kill themselves - possibly spread by trees and plants - has been launched on the East Coast of America.

Rather than a new form of terrorism, it becomes increasingly clear that this is the revenge of an ailing planet. When we join the film's central protagonist, Philadelphia high school science teacher Elliot Moore (Wahlberg), he is questioning his class on why the bee population has suddenly dropped off. It's "an act of nature and we'll never fully understand it," says one sullen pupil, a handy warning that we won't be getting a full explanation of the toxin that is about to cause mass chaos.

It's a conceit that certainly allows your imagination to run wild. We see news footage of an infected man walking into the lion cage at a zoo, offering himself up like a piece of meat. He promptly has his arms ripped off! You see it! But moments like these are few: the bulk of the film sees Elliot, his partner Alma (Deschanel), his fellow teacher Julian and Julian's eight-year-old daughter Jess on the move as they try and outrun this rapidly spreading horror.

Not many sub plots but I won't provide the spoilers in that. Get it on Ebay between $5-$10 WITH S&H included and you have a good deal.

David

A new movie such as this that has much potential in advertising its box office dates on television might have more problems in bringing things into proportion in today's crazy world turned up-side down. Selling a thriller such as this in today's market to a mass audience is now harder than ever since movie-goers are much more knowledgeable and fickle than ever before.

It seems quite strange to think that an airborne virus or some other pathogen could actually turn you into some kind of violent, suicidal zombie. M. Night Shyamalan's attempt to make his first Rated R film with this movie, happens to do quite well in certain places. Mark Wahlberg remained quite calm and resolved at times during the crisis moments of this film. When people began falling off of building, it didn't sink in to my head that these people were actually doing this voluntarily committing suicide. I was thinking that they were just paralyzed and were unable to function.

The movie gets quite absurd and silly at times in certain scenes. This tends to lend itself to lack of believability and credibility. The ending, which was very disappointing could have encompassed many other avenues and explored other various scenarios.

The train scene was extra cool, but people would have acted much more crazy if they found out that everyone was cut off from the civilized world.

I give this movie a rating of 3/5.

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