1

First of all I HATED this movie!! there was nothing redeeming about it. My reasons, Acting was so wooden and dialog delivered like a high school play that I couldn't figure out if it was on purpose or M.N.S. just is that bad of a director and couldn't get anything out of good actor's. My reasoning for it being on purpose was that maybe he had the actors and everyone in the movie act so distant and disconnected to go along with the theme of the movie but if he did it was a bad idea. I wasn't even into the movie from the start it had a very "off" feeling to it and the only parts worth seeing were already in the Red Band Trailer.
I really liked M.N.S. and he must have hit a high with Sixth Sense and I do still argue that Lady in the Water was unfairly picked on, Great fairytale. But I think he just tries to disconnect himself from Hollywood as much as possible and in the long run it has effected his movies too much because of it. I think he should hang up the camera and the pen and call his career good and leave now because I'm afraid of what his next movie will be after this. Here's hoping "it happens" to his career before he tries.

Unseen on Jun 14, 2008

2

Wait…was it really THAT bad?

Chris @ Comichacks.com on Jun 14, 2008

3

First off, I'm a big MNS fan. I enjoyed all of his previous films and did not understand why people hated Lady in the Water. Unfortunatly this movie is by far his worst effort to date. It's so bad it's funny. Everytime something happened that was supposed to be frightening everybody in the theater laughed. The acting was terrible as well. If I had never seen Marky Mark before I would have thought he was the worst actor in the world. Seriously, he's the funniest part of the movie and I'm pretty sure thats not what he was aiming for. I will say that if creepy old people scare you, then there's about 5 minutes of the movie that are creepy.

I hope people will see the bad reviews and stay away. I can't believe I wasted $16.50 tonight. I should have seen the Hulk.

Gene on Jun 14, 2008

4

$16.50?!!! WHERE THE FUCK DO YOU LIVE? Hope that wasn't just for you..

Garrett.king on Jun 14, 2008

5

Stop and think what they said about The Rocky Horror Picture Show when it first came out. Now imagine a movie with no music and people saying the same thing. Just got out of the theater and I think this movie could pass as a dark comedy. I was laughing more than I probably should have at the imagery of creative suicide. There were hot dogs, shared bullet launchers and finally an answer to pesky gardeners with leaf blowers. Go see it; it is worth it just to see how bizarrely funny it was.

CecilSaxon on Jun 14, 2008

6

oK Seriously, this movie blows harder than a russian whore. I don't get this movie because with M. night most of his movies are great, but this one was fucking horrible. it was a melodramatic comedy, not even Mark wahlberg was good in this movie, he was bizarrely wierd, in a funny way, so was that one girl. it was creepy, not worth the eleven bucks i paid to see it, so wait to rent it, that way u can laugh at home with ur friends. **Spoiler alert***The best part of the movie is that scene when josh got his head blown off it was unexpected and darkly funny. But the new Hulk is great so if u need to get out , c that movie not "the happening" cause nothing worthy happened>>>>. So wtevr, nite movie lovers

Peace

jOSH on Jun 14, 2008

7

*I don't say what happens in the movie, but I do talk of the general aspect. So this is a "Spoiler Alert"*

Really, this movie was great! A bit of Asian philosophy, Bio-communication, Earthly energy and more. Many people are use to being told what to think these days that they become too lazy to even look for a well displayed message. So many people want to be told at the end of the movie exactly what happened in big bold letters, but life doesn't do that and really what happened to actually thinking and coming to a conclusion? I was so disappointed by some of the comments I heard after the movie ended, I just wanted to stand up and shout out that they didn't pay attention. I wanted to know if any of them have ever really thought outside the teachings of their bias schooling's. For me this was exactly what I thought it would be with even more of a message then I expected. It was funny in parts, gruesome in others and above all it made me think. This world is full of negative energy and egocentricity. Some people are so centered in on the "individual". What happens when people are so individual based (as much of the Western culture is)? They do for the "me" and not what is best for the "all", the planet which is the house for all is suffering. When people are so focused on themselves they do things without thinking about how in the "big picture" they are hurting others. Not caring for the planet is one of the outcomes of egocentric people. There is also so much negative energy that it creates more negative energy and it is really affecting people and the planet. I think his choice of the East coast area was a good one, because of the high population. The higher the population the more crime, hate and negative energy develops. This was a smart choice that makes the point easy to find, if the viewer is paying attention to all the details and then thinking about it. We need to think of others, respect other and love others. Realize it is not about ourselves, but about us all. We are all here together and if we were to realize this and work together we would intern take better care of our planet as well. Why? Because it is part of us, we can't live without it and if we truly cared about others we would care about the future of humanity. If we care about the future of humanity then we have no choice but to care for our planet, which is our life source. I love this movie.

Amanda A on Jun 14, 2008

8

The problem with this movie, as is with few shyamlal movies before, is that though the story built up is excellent, it fails to captivate the audience in the latter part of the movie. I feel he tries to accomplish too many things at the same time. Night is a good director with the potential to become a excellent one, he should try to dab into different subject matter other then super natural, may be he might hit jackpot with comedy or a love story.

Mihir on Jun 14, 2008

9

M night is brilliant any person should be able to see it, I jsut get the feeling taht his movies are so personal and personnaly insighted that, he expects the audience to be thinking what hes thinking.
He puts deep meaning into his movies expecting ppl to catch on and find it as brilliant as he did when yet they have no clue what he is trying to say. I have heard enoguh about this movie to go see hulk instead but I get the idea this movie is very misunderstood.

Cody on Jun 14, 2008

10

I liked it, but then I again I really like 'the Lady in the water', so what do I know? The movie has creepy moments but is no scarier than an episode of 70's sitcom, 'What's Happening'? But I was entertained the entire 90 min, . . . plus, Zooey Deschanel is quit lovely!

Stanley on Jun 14, 2008

11

I thought the movie was alright. I think it was about on par with Signs. Not as strong as Unbreakable or Sixth Sense but it was watchable. I think MNight should really think about doing a straight horror movie. I think he did a really decent job with the more gruesome aspects of the film.

If I have a major compaint its Mark Wahlberg. WTF was he doing? I've heard that whiney bitch voice he does and I've always hated it. Hated it in the big hit and now that he's doing the entire movie in that high pitched girly tone I really hate it now. He was unlikeable in this film to the point where his scenes were bothersome. It pains me because I have always enjoyed him as an actor and honestly when I see him attached to a project its a selling point for me.

All in all tho I dont think this was a complete abortion.

A on Jun 14, 2008

12

Worst MNS movie EVER.

I could not take this movie seriously. I think Wahlberg is a good actor, but he spent 80 minutes of this movie with wide eyes, furrowed eyebrows, and a "what do I do" expression on his face. He annoyed the crap out of me.

And PUH-LEASE, just a RANDOM mention by the crazy lady that there's a speaking pipe in the shack next door? Talk about HORRIBLE writing. "Hey guys, we need them to know that there's this pipe here, so let's just have a character talk about it out of NOWHERE."

Bad writing, bad story, bad acting, BAD MOVIE.

Icarus on Jun 14, 2008

13

Yup awful movie - AND I LOVED LADY IN THE WATER by the way!!! So leave off - this is 100 times worse!!

P.S. I think M.N.S needs to speak up and comment on this!!

nha on Jun 14, 2008

14

well i was going to go to the theater and see this one but i may wait until it gets to netflix, what do u think

sam on Jun 14, 2008

15

I liked it

Sean Kelly on Jun 14, 2008

16

I can tell you all right now I'm not going, only 3 out of 15 of you liked it.

Tirrell on Jun 14, 2008

17

I saw it last night and came out saying, "Maybe that is his version of a comedy." Because I really laughed a lot. Some things stratled me but for the most part I laughed more than anything else.

walter wood on Jun 14, 2008

18

I loved this one… I could see the movie was misunderstood by many people.. or Its not the type of movie which everyone will love it.. But I loved it.. Really.. its not that bad to stay away… I needed to see a movie like this after all those special effects and popcorn flicks… The movie goes in enough pace to engage you and it will entertain you definately if you get into that mood.. I would say its not the type of movie you go with ur friends.. You might enjoy it more if you watch this alone.. It has moments.. and magics if you believe it…

Its not the regular type movie.. Its really original and when you started to c the bright side you will really love it.. I can;t say its flawless movie.. but I loved this one.. But I went to c this movie with out any expectation.. Bcos I been told the earlier review was terrible.. But its only helped me to enjoy the movie..

Either you like it or hate it.. People will remember this movie for long time..

Suresh on Jun 14, 2008

19

First off: I LOVED LADY ON THE WATER & THE VILLAGE!
I get what youre saying about M.Night thinking everybody is thinking the same thing as him but com'mon when you're watching a period movie (the village) & all the sudden a car drives by YOU SHOULD GET IT! I cant tell you how many people i heard in the theater going "what? i dont get it? why's everyone suprised?" Seriously people, quit looking at your cell phones & watch the movie thats why you came, remember? & Lady in the water? AMAZING! The storyline was fun to follow & the message was pretty clear, also there were many parts that made you jump & others that made you think.
Okay, I realize this is a forum for The Happening so I will stop defending his earlier movies & will instead rip apart his new one..
oh & ***SPOILER ALERT***

So, I was psyched out for this movie the second I saw the poster. I had a countdown on my Mac for crying out loud. Basically, if anyone wanted this moving to be good, it was me. So I get to theater after finding that there were no midnight showings anywhere (which is another thing I dislike, although besides the point) & am nervous, thats how bad I wanted it to be amaizng. i get in the theater earlier than should be allowed to get premium seats & then the movie finally starts..
& im thinking "yes, okay I get it its not plants, no way theres a twist, its emotion or something, this is good" and the story is building & its okay nothing too scary, though, so im a little disappointed with the scare-factor but Im thinking "Hey just wait for that moment when the twist is revealed" so Im waiting & thinking "Well this movies been going for awhile, why isnt something happening? (get it,haha) So then they get to the part where the two boys get their head blown off & im thinking "okay, somethings going to come of that"..but no. They just were killed so that they could be seen being killed. Nothing happens. They just go somewhere else. Then I get to the part with Mrs.Jones & im thinking "yes, this has every element needed to be scary & the movie is going to get better right now. & there was about five minutes where it did. but then it just went even farther with the whole "I want to die together" schtick & then, again, NOTHING HAPPENED! Then comes the worst part of all..the end. Which really, shouldnt even be called an end. It should be called a stop because thats what it is-the movie just stops. & shes pregnant? WHY?! what does that have to do with anything?! & then the news saying"an act of nature we'll never fully understand" thats it? IT was plants or something? That were never going to understand? WHAT?! I love M.N.S movies because they have clues & if you watch close enough & pay attention you can figure it out, you'll get it. Well, I tried as hard as anyone could & I definitly did not get it. I can kinda see how the twist is theres no twist & the end is theres no end. or something like that, but there comes a time when you need to stop trying to be progressive & new & just stick to making a good movie. Although, I am being hard on this movie because Ive seen what M.N.S can do & I was expecting his best yet. There were many funny parts & maybe this was his attempt at a dark comedy in which case, he sorta succeeded. I will still go to see the next movie he makes the second it is released & I will still be just as psyched out for it. Every director has a few off movies. & maybe when I watch it again (which I will, just to see) I'll finally get it. or maybe not.

Sunny on Jun 14, 2008

20

For these who just write I like it ..I don't like it ..or those who write I will not watch it …and people who just write 3 words and that is it …I don't know why the hell you even write these words…

we are here at least some people who really care about movies and watch them … and try to not write or when you write give a bit explanation why why you hate it or why you like it …

When Alex ask you …I am sure he want to see and read why the hell you hate it … or like it …

and for your information M.N.S is a great director and he know what he do ..it is the audience who can't get that level of understanding his movies and every time want more and more …. as he said by him self :

Audience just accept my work as high and low movies…they can't accept middle from me …

…and really I will explain every word I wrote soon in my blog in myspace and I will let you know about it …. and I mean by that every movie he wrote and direct until now ….


…………………………………………………………………………………….

and please Alex take one side and have one character :

1- be a Movie Fan
or
2- be the one who will advice Directors how to think or what to do … as a movie maker
or
3- some one who give movie information as a messenger or a commercial man…
or
4- a man who want to understand what others think and motivate them to be more active to publish their opinions…" and even you do not comment on others opinion…maybe in the week 3-4 times only mostly these who write for you or mentioning your name in their posts " …. !!!

Which one are you ???? for sure you can't be all of them in the same time …

You was not sure about Transformers …
You didn't like Indiana Jones when you watch it for the second time …..
You even was not sure about Iron Man in the beginning and then you slowly begin to like it ….
now you don't like The Happening … !!!!! but what will happen after a week ? we will see !!!
and a lot of other movies that you change your opinion in a week …I just remember these for now …

First time when you watch a movie and when you watch it again you have different opinions …. …Please have one word …

You are having different thoughts in your posts … and most of the time you are changing and using " I was afraid to mention this or that … " just to hide your fast reaction and mistakes in your opinion … if you do all these in just one post … how could you want from another human being like you to make a big movie without any falls or mistakes ????

Alex again as I told you before …I understand your hard work in posting and giving ideas and your thoughts about movies… but some times you look like even more than two different person who use the same name … and from now I really can't take any words from you seriously …

I still didn't saw the movie but I may watch it tomorrow or the day after it … and I will tell you my opinion ….

shero on Jun 14, 2008

21

I stop seeing this guys movies since Signs…. waste of money and precious time…

Jerry Vazquez on Jun 14, 2008

22

Suck. Fest.

Shero, if you want a full review, head over to my site.

Vic

ScreenRant.com on Jun 14, 2008

23

Man!!!!!! This movie sucked more ass than House of the dead! This movie will go down in my list of shithole movies. I do not want this guy to make the last airbender now! Fuck him for making this movie. The only one that was pretty good was lady in the water. oh yeah and the sixth sense. Signs sucked and so did this one! What happened to Mark Whalberg? I thought he wanted to be taken serious as a actor. The only thing this movie accomplished was stealing money from my wallet and stealing time from my life. Thanks alot m. night shamafag!

Ray on Jun 14, 2008

24

Wow! So many of the posters are ready to dismiss a movie based upon someone else's opinion… See for yourself and form your own opinion on the movie. (My official opinion is post 7.)

Amanda A on Jun 14, 2008

25

~Sunny~

Hi!

I wanted to let you know that I am happy to see that you loved MNS other movies and that you didn't totally dismiss this one just because you didn't "get it". Watch it again and know there is a lot to get. Read my response which is #7

I didn't go into everything, but it is a good start to getting the movie. If you read what I wrote and then think about the two boys being killed and the pregnancy it will make more sense. The man in the house represents the egocentric/individualistic people of today. He is in it for himself and not even a child will get in his way. The key part of him killing children is that is especially symbolizes killing the our future. The pregnancy is a symbolization of hope for the future. Elliot and Alma going out in the field and then the "plants" stop is a pivotal moment in the movie where the people stop being in "it" for themselves and start being in it for others. In order to preserve humanity and the earth humans need to stop focusing only on the me and focus on the we. After Elliot and Alma go in the house they comment that it must have stopped before they went out, but they fail to realize that it was there going out that stopped it. I could go on about so many more things, but I don't want to bore you…I am a stranger after all. (One more thing, I wonder if the last names of Elliot and Alma are meaningful as well…"Moore")

Amanda A on Jun 14, 2008

26

LOL, I haven't seen the movie but from what I've read of the spoliers on here it seems as if "negative energy" plays a huge part of the plot?

Somebody please tell I'm wrong…..cause now it sounds like ghostbusters 2….

OPEN ON NYC - LIBERTY ISLAND

MARK WAHLBERG and M. NIGHT SHYAMALAN are spraying ooze all over the Statue of Liberty.
Once that's done, they blast "Higher" by Jackie Wilson and stomp through the city in lady liberty's majestic crown.
They get to the museum, vanquish Vigo the 16th-century Moldavian ruler, and a good time ensues. Sex, drugs, rock and roll.


Now that's what I call a Happening. TOTALLY psyched for it now. Woop Woop, go Venkman!

Nthngmn on Jun 14, 2008

27

I feel vindicated in my Shyamalan hate.

John on Jun 14, 2008

28

it was shite! shot poorly, it looked more like a tv movie than a blockbuster!

john S on Jun 14, 2008

29

Amanda A. I enjoyed your explanations so much.

I found the movie creepy and beautifully shot.

I agree with your view that our society (focused as it is on individual, in it for myself philosophy) that is the real menace to life on this planet.

If you remember a pan to a newspaper in the movie referring to Philadelphia as "Kill"adelphia due to the highest homicide rate in the nation. That is a FACT and it's "happening" day in day out and no one seems shocked or overly concerned with changing it! That is true madness! Why IS Philadelphia the homicide capital of the United States? No one know that either!

This movie needs to be seen without the western point of view, he may have overestimated the ability of the audience to see the movie from the eastern asian philosophy point of view, thus making it unreachable to the general population.

One can enjoy "The Matrix" on a pure entertainment value level and yet if you know Eastern Philosophy it s so much more.

His cerebral take may have been too much for what people expect from a fun, summer movie.

It was beautifully shot, some of those suicide images are stuck in my mind forever, but it was not easy to categorize as a horror movie, a mystery movie a "dark comedy"….it seemed to be all those with eastern philosophy thrown in.

Again, it speaks the the "sickness" of a western mind that watching people kill them selves by lions, knitting needles, leaping off buildings isn't considered HORRIBLE enough for a horrow movie!

Love HNS, may he keep on making these movies!

I've loved them all. Big Messages carried by the small groups of actors set in M Night's setting.

Lina P on Jun 14, 2008

30

You are a complete moron if you think this movie is good.

Carl on Jun 14, 2008

31

Spoiler"

I agree with Carl. How can the man in the house represent individualism if he's not alone? There were others in the house and the boys were going to break his door down. The idea for the movie is interesting and I understand that some of the things they discuss are true but MNS and the actors whiffed with this one. I'm still a fan but this one is probably the worst movie I've seen all year. That is unless it was meant to be a comedy, in that case it was great.

Gene on Jun 14, 2008

32

I saw it last night. I honestly tried to get into this movie, but I couldn't. People in the audience were laughing at the bodies falling from the construction site…which I didn't find funny at all.

I get what MNS was trying to say here. Humans have ravaged the planet, and now the planet uses it's only defense to try and stop the infestation. Which I think is a great story idea. The problem was that this movie had zero suspense, some of the worst acting I've ever seen and to top it off the cinematography was almost as bad as the acting. It pains me because this could've been a really great film. An invisible force is surrounding you and causing mass suicides. That shit would scare most people to death. Instead, they would walk around calmly like zombies and just search from town to town, waiting for whatever it was to catch them.

There would be rioting, mass panic and all that crap. And if I had an inkling of an idea that it was the trees, plants, or grass doing this…where would I go…somewhere where there are no trees, no grass, no plants. Take a boat out on a lake…head towards the ocean…get in the subway…I would not go prancing through huge grassy fields full of trees, plants and grass. That made no sense to me at all.

It's like the same questions I have with some of the other MNS films. In Signs…why would aliens, that can die from a little water splashed on them, invade a planet that is 75% water??? Why didn't they die from the water vapor in the air. One humid night and they would all go poof.

So this movie is a could've been in my opinion. Had the writing been better, or the acting, or even if it had been shot a little better I could give it more than 1 star…but I only give it 1 out of 5. I think it's time MNS started listening to some of his critics right about now…because he's quickly starting to lose his grip on filmmaking.

Tim C on Jun 14, 2008

33

Amanda..

I can see how much you enjoyed and loved this movie… So did I.. I would like to add my views about this movie with that….

Shyamalan put lots of theories in this film.. which might be little confusing for many people.. As per the movie, Nobody knows what is really happening.. So everybody comes up with their own theories and few comes close to wats really happening…

If you think like what ever people saying in this movie is the right theory.. then it will lead you to the confusion state.. Even those attack on large number of people is just an assumption by the people.. It can be right or wrong.. The whole story is from people's perspective.. I can not believe some critics questioning about that..

Only the Trees perspective can tell what has happend and why has happend.. This movie will leave you with lot of questions.. The general perception will be " its the warning from trees for wat we have done to the earth" I guess people will not have any problem in getting that message..


SPOILER ALERT ……

About the Old lady part..

The lady is crazy.. and her part does prove a point that plants are attacking people even when they are alone.. Before that incident Elliot and Alma was hoping Plants will not attack them if they are not in the crowd… So after that lady part they realise its the end… There is no hope at all and its the end of their life..

And when they come out they plants didn't attack them , Bcos they didn't just forgive them.. The attack ended tat time ( thats why Shamalan tells the time 9.58 AM )… There was a guy ( scientist ) who was predicting when the next attack will b.. he predicts that it will b 9 AM in the next morning based on the previous attacks..

About the pragnancy.. Shyamalan tells us.. Elliot and Alma back to their happy life.. Just Like Signs.. he tells about the family problems in the begining and in the end he tells us they are back to the happy life with the pragnancy test..

Its really sad to see these many people complaining about this movie.. I aggree that it could have done bit clearly for the mass… But Its original and brilliant movie… Its just didn;t follow the usual hollywood formulas…

I loved it .. I rather watch original films like this than visual effects popcorn movies ( even though I am computer graphics artist)..

Suresh on Jun 14, 2008

34

Tim C,

I just want to answer ur question regarding the movie "Signs"…

Its as simple as this… We have Nitragin in the air mixed.. which don't harm you in that form.. But if you go into a room with Nitragin filled maximun you will be burned alive…

Why they landed in Earth where more than 70 % is covered with water.. We did land on the moon where you can't even breath … is n't it ?

I can argue.. Its water for us… They may not even know what was that… and they are not like our farmers to know well about the water… When they found out it hurts them They left the planet… Can it be just as simple as this ?

we do know we cannot survive in mars.. yet we are trying to land ourself in there to examine that.. In your theory all NASA ppl are stupids….

I would say these type of questions are just to outsmart Shymalan and they want to feel they are smarter than him ?

I am not trying to say He is the smartest director here… I am just saying he is not that stupid person… He puts lot of thinking and efforts behind his work…

Suresh on Jun 14, 2008

35

Tim C

Yeah Its clever idea.. if trees are attacking .. then we should go towards Ocean… Yeah man.. its perfect..

But don;t you realise the whole part was happening between 25 hours ? And they were trapped in all 4 corners by the time Elliot finds out Its the trees that causing the deaths…

It only shows you havn't gave much attention to the movie.. You can;t blame Shyamalan for that..

If you say this movie doesn;t interest you .. its fair enough.. But I disagree with you if you think its made stupid or illogical..

Suresh on Jun 14, 2008

36

7.5/10

M. Night has always been my favorite director. He has the skill to craft a beautiful story, and make it into a moving and sometimes terrifying thriller. While I can't say that The Happening is as good as The Sixth Sense (which I consider to be one of the greatest thrillers of all time), or even Signs. We love to see things that creep us out, confuse us, and scare us. I had seen most of the violent scenes from the movie in the red-band trailer and it still freaked me out in the movie theatre. The scariest parts were not the shocking bits, they were the intense shots that left everthing to the imagination. Best of all, there was no twist ending, and that officially makes it better than The Village. There were aspects of the film that seemed off. Some parts (like the crazy old woman) were almost irrelevant, and some of the character interaction was just plain odd. But the single thing that troubled me most about this movie was the blatantly-obvious "protect the environment"/"go green" message. I am sick and tired of "green" (the working title should have given me a heads up.) If the movie wasn't so amazingly intriguing and horrifying, then the little global warming bit at the end would have ruined it for me. I'm sad that everytime I watch it I will have to roll my eyes.

Walter on Jun 14, 2008

37

I'm not going to see the movie, but WHY do people put spoilers on here, really? I mean, can't you say it was bad, and move on? Why get way into detail about it. You guys are like the people that ruined "The Sixth Sense" for everyone else who hadn't seen it. That is all.

Brian on Jun 14, 2008

38

Suresh

First the "Signs" issue. Yes we know we can't survive on the moon..ie, no air. Same with Mars, we know that if we went there and took off our space suit, we'd die in seconds. These aliens had all this technology to build ships that can travel through the galaxy and they did not know to check to see if this planet cold sustain them? See that doesn't make sense to me. Plus there is moisture in there air. This is what we call humidity. The clouds are full of it. It is water. It's not in a liquid state, but it's still water. It's not a small mixture of the elements..it's tons of H2O. These aliens were landing all over the world..surely one of them would've ran into a rainstorm, some snow or something. All that being said, I actually enjoyed "Signs" very much. It had great tension, suspense and it kept you on the edge of your seat throughout.

This is what was missing in "The Happening". There was no tension..no suspense and I just felt bored throughout. It was the dialogue and the acting that pulled me out of this movie mostly. Maybe that's what MNS was going for…but honestly who would want such dry emotionless acting in a movie on purpose. I never felt this movie was above me in it's thought process. I totally got what MNS was going for.

It's his delivery that is way off the mark. I gave this film my full attention, as I do every film I see. If you go back and watch "Signs" you will see that; A: The tension is built up gradually and continuously throughout. B: The acting is fairly well done. C: You are kept on the edge of your seat the entire film. Both of these films are very similar in that there is a mysterious force that's suddenly popped up. Only he seemed to do it all better with "Signs".

I really think we didn't need to see the central park scenes or the random people getting affected on the streets. Or at least only see them through the TV or something. It took away from being the one family's perspective. How cool would it have been if it's just through Elliot and his wife's eyes that we see the story unfold. No showing bodies falling from buildings, unless they are running from this mystery attack. Pulling away from them to show these other people that we care nothing about destroyed the feeling of suspense. Had MNS stayed with them the whole movie and gotten some better acting from them, I know they can do it, then I think it would have been lightyears better.

Tim C on Jun 14, 2008

39

Also, did anyone get the feeling that this movie took 3 hours? I thought I was in the theater forever.

Gene on Jun 14, 2008

40

There certainly were redeeming points to the film.

For example, the soundtrack was composed by James Newton Howard.
That's about all I cared about.

Josiah on Jun 14, 2008

41

*May contain a Spoiler*

Gene~

Thank you for reading my response. To clarify, a person can be "individualistically" driven and be in a crowd of people. It is not about who was in the house but the way the person thinks and acts. This type of individualism is parallel to egocentrism. That is what I meant when I used that word, the way the person thinks and views the world, very centered on the "me". So that house could have had 50 people and all of them could be very egoistically/individually centered on the needs of themselves as an individual rather than the needs of the others. Thanks for pointing out that I may have not been clear on that comment.

Amanda A on Jun 14, 2008

42

very bad film. nms should stick to directing other people's work from now on. he's too close to his stuff.
the dialogue was horrible. the set-ups were contrived and the big reveal was unrevealing. wtaching paint dry and grass grow is more entertaining. wait…, scratch the grass bit. he might get mad and release neruotoxins on me.

flixfan on Jun 14, 2008

43

Did anyone like the ending to this too? In Paris or whatever…

Ryan on Jun 15, 2008

44

AMANDA A & SURESH………………

You 2 are complete morons………… get a life this movie sucked and you guys have dedicated way too much thought to try to make a complete shit movie good….. its not…. nor will it ever be. I have liked all of MNS films some more than others but this one was horrible. And you can say its my opinion, which it is, but anyone who says that this movie was good has some problems and should up there medication so they dont leave the house anymore.

Acting was terrible and all the scenes of interest were in the trailer, MNS took a real step back and should be embarrassed by this film. Its hard for me to beleive the same person that made Sixth Sense and Signs made this movie. I liked his home film better than this waste of time and money.

Adam on Jun 15, 2008

45

You know what. It was a good Summer movie. Y'all need to take a pill and stop hating the guy. I didn't see Lady and the Water based on the reviews last year. I am sorry I didn't. It was an entertaining movie. I will agree that it was hampered by MNS's need to appear as a character but overall it was great. I have wasted monay on some awful movies including some First Showing have reviewed. American Dreamz anyone!!!

Overall, The Happening is not unlike a good Doctor Who episode, entertaining, scary and corny and the motivational/scientific premise should be ignored. Just go with the ride. If an Incovenient Truth and Farenheit 911 were brought under the same degree of scrutiny as an MNS movie they would be exposed for what they are, a bunch of cheap, shrill lies masquerading as truth. At least with MNS there is no duplicity.

James MacCrossan on Jun 15, 2008

46

James

I went in with expectations of this being a great film. I didn't go just to hate on MNS. I really wanted to like this film. Unfortunately it all just fell flat for me. It was an emotionally gray film that was hindered by poor writing and acting. And it is the director's job to make sure all the pieces fall into place, but MNS just totally missed this one by miles. It feels like he had an understudy direct this for him or something. It just felt off. I'm still not hating on MNS..I think he has some good left in him, but if he keeps heading in this direction…it's not gonna be good.

I'm not seeing how bringing some documentaries into the conversation is relevant. But I did enjoy both of them very much.

Tim C on Jun 15, 2008

47

Whit?
That film was turdburgers.
He can make good films, but really that film didn't need to be made. The acting was bad and I think the scale of what he was trying to achieve was what made it look like a tv movie.
We are killing the world, quickly and effieciently, it would be good if it did the same to us, but nature is a big fat loser and we're going to win. That's what the dinosaurs thought too.
Aw MNS I love you. Eh?

Crapola on Jun 15, 2008

48

I have been a MNS fan always and was very excited this movie was coming our because I have loved everything else….even The Lady in the Water. But this movie was horrible. You are waiting for the classic MNS twist ending and it never comes. It just ends. If this is a sad attempt at the whole "Global warming lets all hug the earth" thing (which is exactly what I came away with) the movie sucks even worse. Bad, Bad movie….don't waste your money. So sad…..

Belinda V on Jun 15, 2008

49

OK seriously I watched this movie with all hopes that it would prove the reviews on it wrong, But I found myself uninterested with the movie within the first 20 min because of the horrible acting. I still sat through the whole movie waiting for an actor to get in character show something, but no the whole movie it felt like they were reading cue cards. The best acting was by people who had small parts and thats sad because you have a movie with usually great actors.

So Go on with your theories about why this movie is great because yes I agree with you the story could have been great, But seriously can you have a great movie with such poor acting???
It felt like this movie was rushed to be made and the only scenes that were important were the death scenes .

Savannah on Jun 15, 2008

50

Well,

i agree with some other comments. I went to see this movie so it could prove the previews like with "LADY IN THE WATER", by the way was a good movie, yet even with a great director the movie sucked big time. The drama and it's build up was good but who wants to see a movie were the main villian(s) are trees, bushes, and grass. Don't get me wrong, the actors did a great job it's just the story line. i have always like Mark Wahlberg's moveis like 4bros and shooter, but i don't what he was thinking taking this role or how low his was. This summer the movies have been so far……with two exeptions, this movie and the strangers!!

Hex>>> on Jun 16, 2008

51

I wasn't aware who made this movie, what it was about or anything before I went to see this movie. I had a couple of free tickets and Hulk looked too busy. All I can say is that this movie WAS complete tripe. Dress it up how you like with back stories about the Director and past merits… It still doesn't escape the fact that as a piece of work, it failed.

We all make mistakes sure, even if your considered to be one of the best story makers to date (Star Wars) we are still fallible to mistakes (Ja-Ja-Binks anyone?!!) so one must show a little compassion.

However, it is difficult to see how this made it off the cutting room floor and it's easy to imagine the editors cringing in their seats and chuckling when the Director isn't looking…

It's awful. Don't go and see it. Go see Hulk.

L0FTYWISEMAN on Jun 16, 2008

52

First off, I thought this movie was terrible as well. I was really really really looking forward to it because I've had a greater appreciation for the Shamhammer's films recently, but this movie was a total letdown. It wasn't so much the story, which I actually found quite interesting, but the execution was terrible. As someone mentioned previously, it looked as though it was a tv movie. And the acting! Dear God the acting! I usually like, sometimes love, Marky Mark, but he was abysmal in this film from the very beginning. As if there are any science teachers as buff as he is! But that's only a small gripe. I really like open endings in films, yet halfway through I just knew that we weren't going to get any answers, so it kinda felt like the lack of ending was predictable. An utterly abysmal film Shammie! But I still reckon he can redeem himself!

On a side note- the point where the film lost me was the stupid slow motion when John Leguizamo was driving away from his daughter! Talk about movie of the week type melodrama!

Ginger on Jun 16, 2008

53

I have to agree with the points made in posts 44,46 and 51. I don't personally think this movie can be defended in any way, I personally felt very let down by what could have been a very interesting story.

Like some other people here I went in wanting to enjoy this film and had enjoyed all of MNS's past films (some more than others) but about 20/30 mins in I started wondering what was going on:

Why is the dialog so laughably bad?

Why did I see the boom mics about 6 times during what were meant to be serious emotional conversations (It was so blatant that I actually started thinking this was intentional and would be explained later on in the film! I find it strange that there have been no other comments on this!)

Why did the shocking moments or what where meant to be shocking moments make the whole theatre burst out laughing?

Why did the film actually go nowhere with such an interesting premise?

Why did MNS think that an old lady repeatedly sticking her head through glass windows in a house would be scary or shocking? It was just so silly I think the majority of people would be hard pressed to at least not smirk a little!

It's a shame to see such an original film maker get it so wrong, I hope this doesn't put the final nail in the coffin for someone who just seems to be getting further and further from the mark. Saying that it will probably do alright at the box office as it seems so many people have went to see it thinking that the story had so much potential.

To sum up I think it was said better by a fellow movie viewer I heard on his mobile as we walked out of the film who said something along the lines of "you have to go and see it, just to see how bad it was, I honestly couldn't explain it to you, you have to see it! I laughed more than when watching alot of comedy films I've seen. He's a genious"

I'm guessing from that last bit he thought that it was completely intentional but as far as I am aware this was meant to be taken as a serious horror film at least that's what I went in expecting. Like somebody else also posted I think MNS needs to come out with a couple of comments and personally for me I think we the movie going public deserve an explanation!! (Please don't attack me for my views the explanation bit was a joke it just bothered me how much I wanted to like this film but couldn't and I know right now it is not because I'm stupid or just don't get it. There are enough people in agreement with me for me to realise that I didn't miss anything and nothing went over my head!)

Mike on Jun 16, 2008

54

Adam,

I am going to be in detail as its getting personal..

Well .. I would say you are complete moron who cann't even understand what is good movie.. and what is fav movie.. I said I loved this movie .. which by the way makes its one of my fav movie…

There can be very very good movie and you end up disliking it…. And there can be suckass movie and you end up liking it bcos of who you are and what you like to c and what makes you laugh… It just reflects ur personality.. I am the person who loves nature and this movie interested me bcos of my likes..
I could point out flaws in what ever movie you name it.. Well its not for you go and watching a movie… Its like you are paying to get urself hurt and stressed.. If you couldn't find the way to enjoy then its your disability… If you are smart enough then you won't do that… You are the guy stressing yourself and yet you are looking for arguement here to stress urself more ? ha ha… get a life man…

Get smart and move on to do whats good for yourself..

First of all who are you to judge what is good movie and what is bad movie ?… What I said was my personal opinion.. There may be tons of reasons for you to hate this movie… At the end its just your personal opinion…

Village was hated pretty much in US.. and it was much appriciated in Europe.. People have different opinions.. Who are you to tell what is good and what is bad ? and yet you are calling me moron ?

Suresh on Jun 16, 2008

55

If I read one more comment praising this movie as an enlightening, subtly cerebral film experience that anyone criticizing it simply didn't understand, I'm going to be violently ill. Yes, we understand; humans are destroying the planet. Bees are disappearing. Humans are killing each other. There are aspects of nature that we cannot understand. Hot dogs are delicious. Mark Wahlberg is capable of speaking in a whiny voice for what seems like an eternity. Mood rings are trippy. Paranoid old ladies that live in the middle of nowhere and eschew society are creepy. Random strangers will decide to impart plot-critical information apropos of absolutely nothing, and then go about their business. Deus ex machina is the favorite tool of lazy writers. Nature is reacting to humans' destructive behavior. Did I miss some deeper subtext because I don't have a masters in philosophy?

No, and neither did anyone else. M. Night's idea of subtlety is to make the moral of this movie the only theory that's given any substantial screen time, and then repeat it ad nauseum, in such a ham-fisted, poorly scripted manner that during the movie, people (myself included) laughed out loud at 'serious' moments, and before it was halfway over, handfuls of people had walked out. The acting was atrocious. Just to be clear, I mean it was absolutely horrendous. Every actor on screen walked through the movie like it was a first dress rehearsal. Moments that should have carried some weight or intensity had none due to a combination of the terribly written dialogue, pathetic acting, and film-school-dropout level cinematography.

Adding insult to injury was the fact that every, and I do mean every single notable on-screen suicide or suspenseful corpse reveal had already been seen in all the trailers and TV spots.

I liked Sixth Sense, Unbreakable was good (but poorly marketed), Signs was passable (genuinely intense in parts, and good character investment, but such blatant use of Deus Ex Machina as to be nearly unforgivable even if it is the point of the movie, and plot holes through which a house could pass), The Village was bland and predictable, and Lady in the Water was just a phenomenal waste of movie-goers' time (although it's Citizen Kane compared to the Happening). I went to see the Happening in the hopes that M. Night had recaptured that brooding intensity and spine-tingling creepiness that embodied Sixth Sense, but just left feeling satisfied that although I'd ruined an evening watching The Happening, it was an experience I'd never have to repeat.

vertigo on Jun 16, 2008

56

Honestly, this film is diabolical…

L0FTYWISEMAN on Jun 16, 2008

57

Suresh…

Oh my…. are you kidding me …. please keep posting these responses they are epic!!

I see where you like this movie…oh sorry I mean that this is your FAVORITE movie(ha ha aha ha ahh ha) That is still killing me. And that your someone that loves nature (ha ha aha ha ha haaa) That is great stuff… I hope you especially liked the boom mic bush that made its appearance in the movie more that once and that added to the deep meaning of this movie that only you understood. Absolutely phenomenal I was waiting for the ' I know you are but what am I' type of rebuttle but I guess the I could find flaws in your fav movie too comment will do. But this one is the topper:

"Its like you are paying to get urself hurt and stressed.. If you couldn't find the way to enjoy then its your disability… If you are smart enough then you won't do that… You are the guy stressing yourself and yet you are looking for arguement here to stress urself more ? "

(aaaaaaaaaah ha ha ha ha ha) That is some great stuff… The only stress I get is knowing morons like you are actually telling other people this movie is good and they may go waste the time and money. My best recommendation would be to go to the Hulk show(Visitor, Counterfeiters, any other movie in the theatre basically) and go early so you can stick your head in the Happening for a few just to cheer you up and get a few laughs and I promise it will make the movie your are really going in a real treat to see.

Suresh….. you go for it I think trees and nature are great too…. but be careful because you tell the wrong person about this movie and try to recommend it to them in person and they saw it.. they may punch you square in the nose and then you will be hurt by this movie too…. Where is Amanda A cant wait for her response I hope its half as entertaining as yours and it will make the price of admission I wasted on the Happening worth it…….. So thanks Suresh

Adam on Jun 16, 2008

58

Hi Jim C.,

I'm sorry I didn't make my point clearly. I just fell a higher degree of scrutiny is brought to bear against what is essentially a "B" movie than against An Inconvenient Truth and Farenheit 911, or worse, American Dreamz. I chose these two documentaries as they are the darlings of the left and are not subject to the almost violent scrutiny given now to an MNS or Wachowski movie. I feel there are double standards of reviewing on First Showing which go across various genres and political viewpoints.

Michael Moore and Al Gore can do no wrong and get a free pass. "Hey these guys are Democrats lets give them a big thumbs up and not examine too closely their work, their claims and the diatribes they make."

MNS on the other hand, "his movies, his career, his life, it's all going down the tubes." Why so much scrutiny given to a Summer B Movie and so little given to the aforementioned propaganda? It remains to be seen how First Showing responds to "W" in the Fall. I can guess what side it will come down on..

Anyhow, a final thought: Maybe The Happening was hijacked by FOX. Maybe a Director's Cut might produce a better movie. Who knows?

James MacCrossan on Jun 16, 2008

59

Adam~

Thank you for giving me your opinion. I don't believe in personal attacks, if anything I said above seemed to be attacking you or anyone else I apologize. That was not my intent. I think that everyone has the right to be or feel however they want, with out being called names or being told they are right or wrong.

I think I might have overstepped my own boundaries so I want to clarify that I don't think any person is lesser of a person or a moron if they did not like the movie. In fact one might think of the word "tolerance", but I would move a step more and use the term "allowance" I not only believe in tolerance, but I believe in taking it a step further and practicing allowing. I don't mean it in the way that one person is superior to another and allowing another to be a certain way, but accepting that we are different and have different views and ways of living. Instead of saying "you are wrong, but I will tolerate you" one would say "I think differently than you and I accept that and I don't judge you for thinking the way you do".

If you are looking for me to call you names and argue with you, that is not what you will get from me. I accept your opinion and stand strong in my own. I am open to hearing other opinions, because I feel I can learn from others. I don't believe that argument and trying to push my ways on others is the way for me to live my life. I also know other people feel the need and I will not judge that either. I know who I am and I am happy with that.

Thank you for your thoughts and opinions and I appreciate you pointing out the boom mics. I will take note of that when I watch the movie again tomorrow. Have a nice day, I hope your next movie experience is better than this one.

Amanda A on Jun 16, 2008

60

Amanda A

See now that is a more intelligent response and I also apologize for any personal attack you may have thought I took at you but it was just an attack on your opinion of this movie and the absurd reach..
…………WHAT!! when you go and see it again tomorrow!!!……..Noooooooooooooooooo!!! Are going to see if maybe you have a different opinion I hope, WOW you must….

bite tongue….
bite tongue….

I hope something comes up and you decide to go into a movie that has one ounce of quality rather than this bad after school nature scare movie…. Whats playing let me recommend one, come on..

Good day

ADAM

Adam on Jun 16, 2008

61

Adam,

No wonder why you hated the movie so much… You just don't get others.. do you ?… I have to point it out as you keep getting the wrong idea of wat I have said earlier…

I never recomended anyone to watch this movie… I am not here to sell this movie.. It wasn't my intention.. I just wrote my opinion on this movie… I again say it.. I loved it… I will see it again this week.. You may not get this why I am saying as you don't have the ability to respect other's thoughts..
Come on man… I never claimed its great movie.. or good movie.. Calling a movie good or great is general perception which is the odd case here.. I know right from the begining I will be a minority here..
Seriously man… first listen and understand ( which you might have to try harder ) what people are saying before you judging them..

Most people here have bad opinion on this movie… I donno about others.. But I know one thing.. Shyamalan failed to make a movie which can be understood by you.. But I really cann't blame him for that.. You can't even understand the clear statements..

and yeah… you got two tongues it seems… it may be difficult to control them..

Suresh on Jun 16, 2008

62

Suresh, review #18
(response to 61)

I get 'others'….I don't get you, the 1% that has such terrible opinions on movies and keep going to see crap like this so more keep coming out…nor do I care to 'get you'…. and in your 'review' you say the movie has its 'magics', is 'really original', (what!?) and that people should 'go see it alone not with thier friends and make sure they get into that mood' what the hell is that… I just think your outlook on the movie is a real reach or your just wacky…nothing wrong with being a little wacky bro…. I find this part of it entertaining because the responses that you come back with are just hilarious… And now your starting to flip flop and say you didnt say it was a good movie… I dont get mad at a terrible movie or someone that disagrees with the facts such as you ….. so dont worry about me… me and my tongues are gonna be ok….Go see it again this week too you shouldnt have any trouble being alone, and its a smart move by doing it this week because it will probably be gone next week……. And really just face the facts the movie sucks, it has no 'bright side', and no one will 'remember this movie for a long time' (thats the greatest)…….

………… so stop reminding us Nature boy

Adam on Jun 16, 2008

63

Whilst normally I would be in front of M. Night and defending his storytelling genius, i must concur. Twenty dollars…$20.00's my friend and his girlfriend spent on the three of us to see this movie today. Twenty bucks to watch a sub-par, late to the conversation Marky Mark battle wind and trees. Why does it seem like there was more disturbing imagery in the TV Spots than in the movie?

WIND AND FUCKING TREES PEOPLE. I live in OREGON..I SHOULDN'T HAVE TO PAY TWENTY BUCKS TO WATCH MARKY FUCKING MARK FROLIC THROUGH THE FIELD TRYING TO OUTRUN THE WIND, WHEN IN REALITY IF YOU WERE TO PUT MARKY MARK IN THE MIDDLE OF FUCKING OREGON AND LET HIM RUN AROUND FOR A LITTLE WHILE, IT WOULD BE AN EXACT FUCKING REPLICA!

The story would have been better had the actors performances been good. I think the actor choices were a bad decision on M. Night's part.

now before all of you people who loved The Happening start trying to tear me a new one whilst simultaneously putting your feet up my old one, follow me on this.

I have loved and enjoyed, nay, admired ALL of M. Night Shyamalan's previous films…ALL of them. I haven't found fault with one, and YES that includes Lady in the Water and The Village (I know..SOOOO taboo!) But this was an utter waste of my friends money, our time and our life. PLEASE, just wait for it to come out on DVD if you wanna see how it is. It is sunday rent worthy.

Garrett.king on Jun 16, 2008

64

Roger Ebert gave this film 3 stars!

MNS fan on Jun 16, 2008

65

Out of how many? 10?

L0FTYWISEMAN on Jun 16, 2008

66

never gave a damn what Ebert had to say. He's never been right about a movie I've seen and enjoyed.

Garrett.king on Jun 16, 2008

67

Awful acting, awful script, shot like a tv movie, plot goes nowhere, lions taking arms of a guy easier than the black knight in monty python, dialogue that illicits laughs when it isn't meant to, BAD movie.

Its bad when John Leguazamo (i know i misspelled that) is the best actor in the movie. Zooey needs to stick to comedies and even wahlberg was bad. How many times do the say "happened" or "happening" in this movie?

Mike on Jun 16, 2008

68

All the people leaving the negative comments about this movie are extremely shallow people who can't form a deep thought. Especially the idiot who said "How can the guy in the house represent individualism when there are other people in the house? He's obviouslynot alone." You sir, are a shallow self centered idiot. You are the guy in the house! You really need it to be blindingly obvious, don't you? How's life at Burger King going for you?

And everyone who's talking about "oh, it's another global warming, save the earth, go green, whatever movie", 2 things. 1., So what, you don't care about the earth? 2. Neither does M. Night! In an interview, they asked if he was an environmentalist and he said "No, I'd be the first one the trees would kill". So you guys can quit using that reason as to why you hate the movie. I really feel like I'm surrounded by idiots more and more everyday because they can't form a complex or deep thought in their heads.

Also, all the haters of this movie need to chill out. No one bashed you (until me, someone needed to) about your opinions, so why do you need to say sh*t like "people who liked this movie are morons and they need to up their medication so they can't leave the house anymore". I hope you are sterile. You are the kind of people who shouldn't be allowed to procreate. Everyone who knows what "procreate" means is laughing at those who don't right now. And those same people laughing probably liked this movie

LOVED THIS MOVIE, IF YOUR IQ IS ABOVE ROOM TEMPERATURE YOU WILL TOO!!!

Zac on Jun 17, 2008

69

AND, did any of you people saying "There was no twist" ever stop and think that maybe having no twist WAS the twist? Everyone going to an MNS movie expects a twist. So maybe he thought "they'll be expecting a twist, so that defeats the purpose of a twist, so if I go no twist, that will not be expected." Hence, A TWIST

Zac on Jun 17, 2008

70

Zac,

Some people have good taste in movies and some people bad thats all there is to it …. The movie was terrible just accept it…… And when your speaking about procreating you should be the first to step aside….. above room temp is not so bright my friend but I'm glad you passed that goal you set for your self…. twist!?…. please 'having no twist is a twist'… so desperate…… If you think this was a deep movie that inspired deep thoughts, obviously….. you are not that deep my friend… Hence, SHALLOW

Adam on Jun 17, 2008

71

Adam,

I showed it (#18) to my friend.. You know what… he said.. it can be misread as I am recomending this movie … Well that was n't my intention.. I just left my opinion as how I enjoyed the movie… I thought I should give more explanation for that..
My friend didn't like this movie. He went to c it with his group of people and he told me he didn't like it. we get the same view on movies in general but not this time.. He told me it didn;t engage them in the whole and it disapointed them.. Thats one of the reason why I put that point..

Well tats apart…

Now .. when I read your reply… it really made me laugh… this guy won't get it even if you tell him like you talking to 8 year old kid… Go thru my posts… Have I ever claimed its good or great movie.. ? I said I loved it… FAV and GOOD… two entirely different words… they don;t mean the same… man I feel like a teacher now… ha ha…

Yeah I said it has moments and magics if you BELIEVE it… you didn't believe it.. then how can you expect that will happen to you… I clearly said its not the type of movie everyone will like it..

Anyone can hate this movie… It doesn;t matter.. Liking this movie is my personal opinion.. You are expecting me to be not myself and wanting me to say It sucks… ha ha ha… Well .. what can I say..

I think you rate yourself very high and you think in a way whatever you like will be good and rest will be bad.. Dude wake up.. You are not the only person in the world.. May be Zac is right… May be you need medication.. or you need to ground yourself … you never really answered my questions in the previous posts.. you just tried to bash more and hide with that..

Suresh on Jun 17, 2008

72

HAAAHAHAHa, I haven't seen it yet, but from all these posts and comments, I want to go see it just so I can give my opinion.

I like movies that make you think or make you wonder.

I enjoy movies that are odd.

Sometimes, it's the 'terrible' movies that are more memorable.

Adam……you're an idiot. You're not going to win this argument. Suresh has given an opinion from her point of view. You've given yours. Big whoopdeedoo. Now leave it be. Stop trying to overtake another's opinion or downstrike it.

My recommendation to everyone? If you want to know, go see it for yourself and stop relying on other's opinions or reviews. How can you be sure that what another says is how you will see it? Maybe if one of you people reading these actually goes, defiant of the bad reviews, you just might see somehting everyone else missed! Or, it could be just as horrible as they say. Only way to really find out the truth? See it for yourself.

And if you don't want to waste theater money on it, then wait. It'll come out on video soon enough. Then, not only can you watch it once, but you have it there to review in case you think you figured something out, or maybe you missed something.

MNS even stated before the movie came out he wanted to get away from the 'twist' stereotype everyone had on him. HE SAID IT AHEAD OF TIME. NO TWIST. Read the news for goodness sake!

Not to mention, of his previous movies, ONLY THREE of them had true twist endings. Unbreakable and Signs….no twist. Just a true ending. NO TWIST.

Duran on Jun 17, 2008

73

Have you seen my baseball?

Ollie on Jun 17, 2008

74

All I have to say……

Train Conductor: "We've lost all communications sir…"

Wahlberg: "…With WHOM?!?!"


…this movie whomps…I want my 10 bucks back…like now.

jep on Jun 17, 2008

75

Oh my God! Obviously "The Sixth Sense" was a fluke for M. N. S. I wasted my time and money on this and "The Village" and Lady in the Water. I went for scary "sixth sense" kind of movie and got crap in all the movies after the Sense and Unbreakable.

I quit! I give up on M. Night….This movie was more than not scary, it was boring and flat and not even a little exciting!

BOOOOOOOOO!!!! F- Four thumbs down

Never again will i waste my money on an M. Night movie

Good Night Mr. Night and farewell

JoeyMarie on Jun 17, 2008

76

M. Night missed the mark on this one. I've been able to watch all of his movies and either say that I REALLY liked it, or that they were at least "tolerable". I genuinely wanted my money back for this one when I walked out of the theatre. I did NOT get what I paid for. Shall I discuss it further? OK!

**Contains spoilers**

The opening sequence was very 80's soap opera to me. Clouds filmed in reverse? Uhhh…OK. Not only that, but the opening credits were unusually long. Get to to friggin movie already. Now, the first "happening" that we see is basically 2 girls in a park. One describes what she's seeing "happen" in the worst scripted way possible while the other plunges a hair needle into her throat. I can stomach that, but it sure was more like an After School Special than an M. Night flick to me. Then there's the guys falling off the roof. OK, I have to admit, that was disturbing. Then we get to Mark and Zooey. Now look - Mark really is a gifted actor…I dunno what the hell happened to him in this film. The only thing I can figure is that I'm so used to seeing him in the very macho role, that maybe I'M just not willing to accept the kind, super-nerd role he took on in this movie. Either that, or he just couldn't make the poorly written script work for him. Zooey - yuck. Sorry, she never had a prayer with me. I wasted 3 of my evenings watching Tin Man on Sci-Fi. She can't act worth a damn. However, I thought it was really funny that M. Night paid homage to her work in that film by using Dorothy Gail gingham and an oil can as props in the farm house in this film. (Hey, M. Night…let's not try to pay homage to OTHER movies while working on your own. See what happens when you're not paying attention?)

DUDE, if I was Steve Jobs, I would have been LIVID at the way the iPhone was used to let us all "view" the WORST sequence of the flick which was some "infected" guy feeding himself to the lions at a local zoo. I watched "Land Of The Lost" in the 80's, and I SWEAR the visual effects were better on that 2 bit show then they were in that sequence. If Stan Winston didn't see that before he died, trust me…he's rolling over in his grave now (RIP). Running a close second was "the guy under the lawn-mower" sequence. YAWN. Oh, and the lady who loses her daughter over the phone. We can't hear anything from the daughter, so it's just the lady "acting" the death out. Dude, who was that chick? SERIOUSLY. Was it the executive producer's best friend's sister? It was all I could do to keep from laughing. THEN, to make matters WORSE, the script calls for Mark to put the call on FUH-REEKING SPEAKERPHONE so we can "hear the death", which sounds like glass marbles being dropped into an empty Folger's can. NICE. And I wanna know…who the hell get's cellphone coverage out in the middle of nowhere like that?

I understand red tide, and all that. I get the references he was (not so) ambiguously making about treating Mother Earth better and loving each other. I get, I get it. But, DAMN…trees? Killing? Does anyone else find that downright COMICAL? Not to mention the fact that he used some weird, half-looney "hot-dog" guy to reveal the plot to us…and that was IT. Yes, that WAS the plot. OK, and other than the shock factor, I didn't get the whole "abandoned house scene". Yeah, it's an easy way to kill off 2 kids, but did we HAVE to use the high-school off-stage actor to play "the voice in the house"? HORRIBLE.

It was poorly shot, poorly edited, poorly directed, and VERY poorly acted. I really think it would have fared better as a "thriller" on Lifetime Movie Network. Plus, Melissa Gilbert would have been a better leading lady.

Two good things about the movie. Betty was GREAT. She creeped me out - BIG TIME. She was the only character that I wasn't quite sure about. Kudos to you, Betty. Never a better female loaner was played in an M. Night film. I just wish you would have smaked M. Night rather than the little girl. And, making sure the phenomenon happened in France at the end was good (?) as well. But, once again…more comical than good.

Here's hoping for something better next time, M. Night. You got my money on street cred alone this time, but next time…I'll have to wait for the reviews before rushing to opening day…

J-Girl on Jun 17, 2008

77

There's been a ton of response to this film, mostly negative but a few positives. I guess I don't have anything to add that hasn't been said already. This film wasn't great, but it wasn't horrible enough to make me gouge my eyes out. Then again, I just saw "Doomsday" for the first time earlier this week, and compared to that film "The Happening" is Citizen Cane.

The acting was completly flat throught the film. I don't know why MNS didn't coax more emotion out of his actors. If the world was ending, which it was more or less for the folks in this film, I'd think that there would be a far wider range of emotion displays, from anger to abject cower-in-the-corner fear. Sure there would be some people who keep their head and remain calm as Wahberg did here, but when everyone is acting cool and rational then just boring. And that's what I'd call this film — not bad, but boring. I also did not care one lick for the "no trick ending" trick ending. What kind of director needs to depend so heavily upon trick endings anyway?? I'd have been more impressed if the plants started uprooting themselves and began attacking people as if Uma Thurman's Poison Ivy was controlling them. Here, essentially the plants were giving off 'bad vibes' and causing people to off themselves. That was not a crowd-pleasing move. At the end of my showing I heard A LOT of groans and hushed mumbling. I think this movie might have done well at some other time of the year, or on DVD, but a summer blockbuster this is not.

Duran: The endings to Unbreakable and Signs sure do seem a bit twisty to me…

kevjohn on Jun 17, 2008

78

I forgot to say one more thing i hated about the movie….The Fucking BOOM MICS showing up in serious shots, What the hell? Is this a college made movie? Did the director or perhaps the editors not see the giant mircrophones in the shots? Very sloppy work!!!

JoeyMarie on Jun 17, 2008

79

Are you serious? I don't think I was paying enough attention to notice them. What scenes where they in?

jep on Jun 17, 2008

80

ZAC (#68 and #69) read my post at #63 and then I dare you to tell me I'm fucking shallow. I HAVE LOVED EVERY SINGLE ONE of M. Night's films, even the ones that some people decided to hate simply because the masses did. I loved Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs, The Village AND Lady In The Water. I AM NOT FUCKING SHALLOW!

I wasn't even expecting a twist, I'm not limiting my director and storytellers to things they've done in the past..but I was thoroughly unimpressed with The Happening because the acting fucking sucked.

As much as I hated the movie, there were moments where I couldn't help but laugh that were MEANT to be laughed at, the joke about going to the store and asking about cough medicine I found funny…but I digress…

MARKY MARK, MARK FUCKING WAHLBERG HAS NEVER BEEN AND NEVER WILL BE A COMPELLING ACTOR. HE'S BORING, AND FUCKING TALENTLESS.


EVERYONE WHO AGREES WITH ME ON THIS POINT, PLEASE RESPOND

Remember how someone would state something…and then like..oh I dunno..let's say FIVE FUCKING MINUTES LATER Marky fucking Mark would respond with "What?…no…What? What's happening?..give me a moment…hey..what?" GOD THAT WAS FUCKING ANNOYING.

SO YOU SEE, ZAC. I'm not fucking SHALLOW. My favorite movies are the ones most epic and touching…The Happening (As much as it DEPRESSES ME TO SAY THIS) Was fucking HORRIBLE.

And that still doesn't turn me off from seeing any M. Night movies in the future. I'm not one of those ass holes who think he's always been bad and is incredibly vain and egotistical..I think he's charismatic and in general can get the best out of his actors. This time was a miss. And all directors have misses. Look at George Lucas (and I'm not talking about the fucking prequels, which I ALSO enjoyed thoroughly)..we remember his good movies..and we try to forget about the bad ones..half the time I forget that he made Howard the Duck. HOW BAD was that fucking horse pile? And yet he's still king of an incredible saga.

so…NAH!

Garrett.king on Jun 18, 2008

81

This movie SUCKED! I just saw it on Sunday. I was so excited to see it. Half way through it, I found myself looking at my waatch hoping it would end soon. I mean, come on, plants?!?!?!? This movie had so much potential. I was hoping it wouldnt be another cheesy 24 days later knock off. Got what I asked for, maybe I should keep my mouth shout. (LOL) All well. One word to round it off, GARBAGE.

Brian on Jun 18, 2008

82

just to warn you all, this could be a long one, oh yeah and alittle bit of a spoiler

i think that people who have seen this movie have both read too into this movie or just didn't like the movie because there wasn't a whole lot of action, or maybe feel alittle let down by thinking this was going to be some crazy horror movie that would scary you and leave you feeling shocked and frighten. Every movie MNS has made has never been anything like that so you shouldnt have expected that in the first place. I dont feel this movie was the best movie ever made, but i think its his second best movie made, only second to 'The Sixth Sence'. And the ending could have been a bit better, but I would have been alittle pissed if it had a twist ending like 'The Village'. I do feel that this movie was misunderstood though. In my opinion, 'The Happening' was more of a "what if" kind of movie. Because if you actually think about it and do the research, you would know that what the plants do in the movie is all based on actual facts, it is really amazing. So really this movie isnt too far fetched. To me this move was more of his view of life in this world. Like how at the dinner everybody took off and left and just ignored. It is exactly what I would expect from people in america today. And if you dont agree with the watch the video clip of the guy being hit by a car while he was crossing the street. (Nobody helped the guy, there was even a guy taking pictures of the guy on his camera phone and then just walked away, also another guy on a scooter who circled the guy and left. Nobody called the cops. A cop showed up minutes later for a police call that was unrelated.) And also the constant reference to the environment, its a simple message, we need to become more aware of what we are doing to this planet. And finally, having them live through what was happening and her being pregnant was a simple "if we unite as one we can survive" message. So to round it all up, the way i see it is this…. we are too focused on this hectic world we live in, that we created. we dont take the time to focus on real problems. we dont care about each other enough. We have no respect for the people or the environment (plants and anaimals). The love in this world for others is dwindeling. And what if the world does consider us a threat and does try to exterminate us (like the reference in the movie about the plants giving out a chemicals in the air to attract certain bugs to eat the the bugs eating the plant). Is it really too hard to believe that plants can do that or out smart us? Can we stand together and survive a happening?

OR to just put in plainly…..

We take for granted we what have. We have a lack of respect for everything in this world. Life is so simple yet we always have to complicate things by trying to analize and figure out an answer for everything. Love life and everything within it. There are things in this world we will never understand.

oh yeah, and id give this movie 7/10 (good, not great)

BoB on Jun 18, 2008

83

BoB

Ya I think we all get what the movie was TRYING to say and that the IDEA behind the movie could have been good ………… But it was made, acted and expressed absolutely horrible…. basically a bad B movie. MNS has the ideas and does usually a better job of putting them together and expressing them… and filming by the way with the mics coming down… and I'm still waiting for the person that explains that was part of the message too… and it will happen! Someone will say 'the mics were swinging in the picture to show that the trees affected them too and they were sad' .. or some BS like that….. BoB we get the world and the environment and all that crap about we dont take time to care for one another … You can see that in any after school special or a talk show…. I dont want it at the movie theatre ..unless it is done well………… This wasnt… it sucked…….BAD

you think its MNS second best movie….. get a life!

Adam on Jun 18, 2008

84

'i think that people who have seen this movie have both read too into this movie or just didn't like the movie because there wasn't a whole lot of action, or maybe feel alittle let down by thinking this was going to be some crazy horror movie that would scary you and leave you feeling shocked and frighten.'

- BoB (#82)

erm…BoB..FUCK NO. How ’bout reading some of the longer posts before you post. Read mine. Perhaps I'll delve a bit deeper into why I was disappointed with MNS latest film.

I live in an incredibly small town in Oregon..Oregon is known for it's rolling hills and a bunch of freaking trees…that coupled with the fact that there is LITERALLY NOTHING to do in this town. The nearest theater is twenty minutes away, the "mall" (also twenty minutes away) has 8 stores on the one level of the store. This is a small town.

AND TREES ARE FUCKING EVERYWHERE, alright?! EVERYWHERE. If I wanted to see sub par acting coupled with trees blowing in the wind I would have stayed home and made a porno involving my friends fucking a douglas fir tree.

I could have been drawn into the film a WHOLE lot more if the ACTORS DIDN'T BLOW and if the shock factors (which ARE supposed to fucking shock you and disturb you) weren't shown in all of the trailers and TV spots already. Hell, I could have stood Zooey Deschannel more if Mark Wahlberg was a good actor like he's..NEVER been.

I DON'T NEED ACTION TO LIKE A FUCKING MOVIE, IF I DID I WOULDN'T LOVE ALL OF MNS OTHER FILMS..ALL OF THEM. All I wanted was a compelling story with some dark humor and some loving moments that would pull at my heart strings. This film simply did not deliver on the level that M. Night's movies usually do. And I wasn't anticipating this film to suck, so don't pull that shit either. I was defending the film against people who were saying it was going to blow, and telling them to see it before they judge. I saw, and now I'm judging just like everyone who knows what the hell they want from a film.

THIS MOVIE WAS A LET DOWN! ACCEPT IT!

Garrett.king on Jun 18, 2008

85

//This is from the imdb forum.. an excelente point of view of the film.

[credit: smallmytable @ imdb ]


Spoilers included below

I have never posted on imdb before, so please take a moment to read the post before beginning a flame war (sorry if it ends up being a long post, but I think it will be worth the time). I have to start by saying that I enjoy M. Night's films greatly, and that initially I was disappointed with the Happening until I had a chance to think about it further. Also, I'm not trying to sound snooty or anything, but I have a graduate degree in playwriting, so I probably spend way too much time analyzing things like character, plot development, symbolism and other imagery, plot contrivances, etc., to the extent that I realize I probably attribute things to an author that even the author may not have intended.

That being said, I realized that the brilliance of this film, and why I think M. Night even made it in the first place, is to make a larger statement about human nature and our inability to effectively communicate with each other. In this way, the movie has nothing to do with plants and trees, or any kind of toxins released by nature, or nature fighting back at us for our environmental destruction, etc. Whether or not these plot elements were intended, I believe they are more of a foil to throw the audience off track. The concept of the plants releasing toxins is a plot foil intended to throw us all off: a crazy hot-dog eating guy says, "I think it's the plants, they're releasing toxins." or something to that effect, so the characters (and audience) think for the rest of the movie that it's a movie about nature fighting back.

On a side note (not to get too sidetracked) I think that the clouds and wind are really responsible for carrying a toxin of some sort, whether nuclear, bacterial/viral or otherwise, but it is not the plants releasing anything. The only time people get infected is when the wind kicks up in their direction, or there are clouds in the scene, or the sky is overcast (look closely); plus, the movie begins and ends with scenes of clouds rolling, which would otherwise have no significance if the story was simply about plants.

But ultimately, this is what I believe M. Night was trying to get across to the audience, boiled down into one over-simplified sentence: POOR COMMUNICATION BETWEEN PEOPLE LEADS TO MISUNDERSTANDING, WHICH IN TURN LEADS TO BAD RESULTS. I'll give 15-20 examples of this in the movie, and you can feel free to agree or disagree.

This theme seems to be constantly expressed and reinforced throughout the film, with examples as follows:

(1) The three stages humans go through when infected by the "toxins" are first, the inability to speak (lack of communication); second, disorientation (not understanding what is happening), and finally suicide (bad results)

(2) Cell phones are never effectively used throughout the film (poor communication): Alma tries to ignore calls from Joey, Eliott has poor communication with Alma when he calls her from the school, Julian can't get through to his wife on the train and tells her to text message him, the iPhone is used to watch video of a guy getting his arms ripped off by tigers which only serves to further frighten people, the woman can't understand her daughter in Princeton or convey to her to stay inside, Julian can't get through to his wife, so he makes the terrible decision to leave his daughter to go find his wife, which leads to his death, etc.

(3) Everyone has trouble with other forms of communication technology: the television reports keep spreading reports of nuclear fallout, plants releasing toxins, terrorism, etc., without any strong evidence, which leads people to overreact (i.e. all of the people in the diner taking off in every direction in their cars, most presumably to their deaths); the isolated woman does not have a telephone so she does not know what's going on in the rest of the country, and also Eliott and Alma can't make any calls; the radio in the field gets terrible reception, the train conductors lose contact with everyone, so they just stop and let everyone off in the middle of nowhere, etc.

(4) Both Alma and Jess stop speaking when they are frightened (poor communication)

(5) People constantly talk about how the trees, bushes, grass etc. are able to mobilize so quickly and effectively against humans, because all the forms of plantlife are able to "talk to each other" so well; this is contrasted with the humans' inability to communicate well with each other

(6) The closed-in farmers with the shotguns refuse to listen to Eliott, while the kids begin yelling and trying to kick in the doors; Eliott is unable to communicate to the boys to stop acting that way, and the farmer reacts out of fear that the people outside are infected, so the farmers shoot the children

(7) The isolated woman slaps Jess on the hand at the dinner table, and Eliott and Alma just give each other strange looks without saying anything

(8) Eliott doesn't say a single word to the old isolated woman when they first meet; she does all of the talking; she comes to the irrational conclusion that Eliott is going to kill her in her sleep and screams at him to leave the next morning

(9) It's an old saying that when people are having a hard time communicating something to another person, it's as if they are "banging their heads against the wall"; this is literally how the old woman kills herself, by banging her head against the walls

(10) Eliott and Alma spend almost the entire film together, but cannot seem to communicate their differences effectively, speaking to each other as children do (this was pointed out in another post), until they are physically separated at the end and only able to communicate through the pipe systems. Even then, they say "it sounds like you're right here" and they are finally able to communicate well (this concludes their character arcs, particularly when they brave the outside to be with each other); they have finally learned how to speak to each other well, and they are rewarded by being able to live

(11) Julian judges Alma's love for Eliott almost entirely on the way she looked at Julian (when she was crying) on her wedding day; this was without saying a single word to Julian, even though there could be a million other reasons why a woman would cry on her wedding day

(12) The army guy loses contact with his base, putting him in a place of disorientation (i.e the cheese and crackers comment); and eventually he dies from the "toxins"

(13) The mood ring is a type of communication tool, telling others how a person is really feeling even if they are saying something different

(14) All of the infected people kill themselves by suicide; suicide is often called a "cry for help" or a last ditch effort for someone to try to communicate something to other people before they die. This is particularly true with hanging (i.e. the gardeners hanging themselves with garden hoses in the middle of the street for everyone to see), with wrist-cutting (Julian sits in the middle of the street and cuts his wrists with glass), jumping off of buildings (all of the construction workers at the beginning) and death by handgun (the series of deaths with the cop's gun at the beginning, and the army guy and presumably others with his gun); it's as if people can't speak to each other, so they are confused about what is happening with their lives and act out of fear/irrationality and bad results happen when they take their own lives

(15) Alma pleads with Eliott to not let them be the type of people that watch others die without saying anything about it; this is literally a plea for him to communicate with others to stop bad results from happening

(16) Jess's character arc is completed when she verbally tells Alma at the end, "I love you" whereas before she was too afraid to speak

(17) Eliott is a terrible teacher; I was struck by this during the first classroom scene and attributed it to bad writing and bad acting, but I think it was part of his character arc to be a poor communicator early on; in the classroom scene he tries to get his students to talk but no one wants to say anything, he gets them involved by joking with one student that his looks will fade over time; he poses questions without having the answers, runs and truns out the lights when the principal comes in, etc.

(18) When the army guy and others start killing themselves, they all look to Eliott for guidance, and he tells them constantly to shut up and let him think; his inability to communicate with others leads to his own confusion and making bad decisions, including his rationalization that the plants sense groups of humans together, so therefore they should all split up

I could go on with more examples, but I think it is safe to say that communication is heavily emphasized throughout the movie, particularly showing what happens when there is a mass breakdown in communication, leading to fear, confusion, and ultimately, making bad decisions.

I think there is genius in M. Night's works, particularly this one, that can only be seen in subsequent viewings. For example, in the 6th Sense when you go back and see how no one speaks directly to Bruce Willis's character because he is a ghost, and all of the scenes with red are scenes with ghosts. In Unbreakable it is always raining, or bad things happen when it is raining, and water is the hero's only weakness. In Signs, the underlying theme of the movie is perception, i.e. how people are able to interpret signs they see, and M. Night distorts perception throughout the movie by making the audience and the characters see things indirectly, i.e. reflections in glass, through windows, through hazy recollections of past events, through water, on a reflection in a knife blade, etc. In the Village, you pick up on nuances in their voices/accents which betray what time period they are living in. And in Lady in the Water how Paul Giamatti loses his stutter whenever he is around Story (i.e. when he becomes part of the storytale, rather than outside of it).

Obviously from the length of this post you can tell that I am a fan of M. Night's works, and I hope he continues to provide entertaining movies that still have me thinking days later.

RodNeilman on Jun 18, 2008

86

alright..i've read about 6 paragraphs..and every-time something "deep" or "important" was stated..I met it with a flat out "Duh".

of course the story was about communication breakdowns..I knew that when the characters..um..gee..didn't talk to eachother on a level that they should?

and..DUH the wind carried the toxins, killing the people. What you're saying is nothing that the people that are complaining about this film haven't already thought of. The ACTING sucked..the ACTING..again ACTING!..
—————————————————-
alright, I'm leaving what I said up there and I have finished reading the post..and I have to say I'm not entirely convinced that it was supposed to be that way..but if it was..I think I may actually wind up liking this film. I'll have to watch it again and keep this in mind..I may have hated all of Wahlbergs other performances and chocked this up to being just more bad acting on his part. We'll see. I'll personally recant all of my former statements if this is indeed the case. Thank you for an insightful find from IMDB RodNeilman. You smell terrific.


I leave my original post up there, I suppose as a way of leaving my communication open. PFFT!..seriously though, cool find.

Garrett.king on Jun 18, 2008

87

Wait… If trees are killing people, then shouldn't we ACCELERATE the killing of our planet, before they retaliate?

(Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha just kidding)

Ajax on Jun 18, 2008

88

//There is some more… it was a long dicussion

I just really like M. Night's works because each one has something unique to say about society, and how we would be positively served by either: finding your life purpose (6th sense), knowing where you fit in in the world (Unbreakable), having faith in a higher authority even in the face of adversity (Signs), risking your own safety for the well-being of your loved ones (Village), helping others find their way (Lady in the Water), or learning how to communicate with each other before it is too late (Happening