June 24th 2008
The Happening - not that much after all
With a lack of anything remotely substantial on telly these days I have to admit I was less twitchy then I expected. I haven’t even checked out the possible summer viewings I was contemplating so that should tell you something. But a movie I can manage.
Now I’d much rather write about something that I can recommend (I am working on that) but I made the foolish mistake of seeing The Happening by M. Night Shyamalan.
Since the plot was all shrouded in cloud of mystery I didn’t want to read anything that might spoil the plot. What a silly blond I can be sometimes.
I really liked M. Night Shyamalan’s 6th Sense and Unbreakable, I even managed Signs (even though I don’t like Mel Gibson much) and I thought The Village was not THAT bad. I cannot speak about The Lady in the Water as I haven’t seen it. So I did go into this with an open mind because I do like his storytelling even though it can be slow paced at times.
And all I can say after seeing The Happening is meh – what was the fuss about?
In my opinion it was just atrociously bad – from plot to the actors and some bits (like the old lady oh honestly what was that in aid off?) did not make any sense to me.
But what irks me the most and without spoiling anything for any of you that haven’t seen the movie is that the idea behind the plot, the message that he was trying to convey could have been turned into something extraordinary that could chill you to your bone.
Unfortunately the only chills I got where from the cinema’s air-con unit.
My advice is even if you are M. Night Shyamalan fan wait until this comes out on DVD and rent it if you really want to see what the fuss is about. I think in the end it will turn into one of those you either love-it or hate-it movies. While I didn’t hate it, I didn’t like it much either.