Movie Review: The Happening
Image taken from IMDb.com
I give it: 3 out of 5 stars
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
I wanted to see this when it was in theatres two years ago, but I just never got around to it. I am glad that I saw it but, yeah, 3 stars: It seemed to me that this was a low-budget movie, and I took that into account when I was deciding on what rating I would give. Even so... the movie wasn't all that great.
But I will add that the movie wasn't all that bad, either. It would make a good movie to rent on a lazy weekend evening; one of those nights when you definitely want to watch something, but you have no idea what to pick.
Synopsis: Elliot Moore is a high school science teacher who quizzes his class one day about an article in the New York Times. It's about the sudden, mysterious disappearance of bees. Yet again Nature is doing something inexplicable, and whatever science has to say about it will be, in the end, only a theory. Scientists will bring out more theories, but no explanations, when a more urgent dilemma hits the planet. It begins in Central Park. Suddenly and inexplicably, the behavior of everyone in the park changes in a most bizarre and horrible way. Soon, the strange behavior spreads throughout the city and beyond. Elliot, his wife, Alma, and Jess, the young daughter of a friend, will only have theories to guide them where to run and where to hide. But theories may not be enough.
-Synopsis written by J. Spurlin; taken from IMDb.com
The story was... borderline poor. I can't help feeling like Mr. Shyamalan read The Triffids, by John Wyndham, and wrote his own tree-themed story based on the rough idea of tree's being predators. But it fell flat. The plot has the semblance of bones and a bit of skin, but there are no organs-nothing to make it really "alive". With that said, it wasn't boring to watch; it was gory and suspenseful enough to keep it interesting all the way though.
My biggest peeve with the movie was how the people reacted to the treat of an airborne toxin. There was fear and quite a bit of worry for themselves and loved ones, but there was hardly any panic. I would think seeing people killing themselves would have started a bit more than just complacent running away.
The acting was decent. I liked Mark Wahlberg especially, who played Elliot, and was a convincingly distraught character. I also enjoyed Zooey Deschanel, who played Alma, and John Leguizamo, who played Julian. However, I found Jess's character, and thus the young actress who played her (Ashlyn Sanchez), to be horrible; she had very few lines, and the few lines she did deliver sounded like she was reading from a script. On that note, a lot of the actors (Wahlberg as well) had this problem-every once in a while they'd deliver a line that sounded like the actor, not the character. (Maybe this is just Shyamalan's directing style?)
I did like the ending. It left off leaving you knowing that the plants were behind the toxin, and yet still wondering. It was perfect.
I'm not a horror / suspense fan, I'm really not, but I don't mind a suspenseful drama (I believe that's what you'd call this film). There was just enough gore to fit the story, but not gratuitous amounts of it-the writers knew when it was a good time to use the "fade to black" option. If you're not a horror fan, then this is a pretty good movie to rent on a lazy weekend evening. It's got enough suspense to keep your guessing, but not enough to make you want to turn it off out of fright.
Rating Rubric:
1 Star: Oh my god dig my eyes out with red hot pokers now!
2 Star: Poor - poor quality, poor acting, poor story. It's sad that it was made in the first place.
3 Star: Decent. But I wouldn't go out of my way to see it again.
4 Star: Pretty good - good quality, good acting, good story - I'd recommend it.
5 Star: Fucking unbelievably good. Some serious thought and talent was put into this movie; not only will I be seeing it again - I'll buy it, I'll recommend it, and I'll probably have wet dreams about it.