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The Happening
M. Night Shyamalan comes back into his genre of twists and turns and mystery and horror. However, after the first few minutes this film fails to deliver any of the twists, turns, and horror that should be expected. It comes in with an 'R' rating, but it doesn't take advantage of that fact.
The story starts off strong. The few scenes in New York City of the people losing control and dieing are very well done. Seeing them stab themselves in the neck of jump off of buildings is disturbing and somewhat scary. After that it settles into a very predictable storyline. The biggest problem with the story that was created was the very, very easy identification of characters that could not, would not, be killed in the film. Once you realize that you are following those characters around, there is no suspense. You know that they won't die, and that everyone around them will die. This is a pretty common problem in horror films, and if you know who is going to survive, there is no suspense around it. And from Shyamalan, you come to expect more in the line of twists and turns. The other problem is the ending of the film. It really ends three times. If it had ended on the first, immediately after the "happening" then it could have been a decent ending. If it had skipped the second ending, it could have worked with only the first and third endings. But all three together just drag on and the punch that is supposed to come with the last ending is completely lost.
With a horror film you also want to feel for the characters and be scared for them. Like I said, since you know that some won't die, it is much harder to feel scared for them. Add in the fact that they never really get to care about the characters, and it is just general indifference to them. Shyamalan tries to give them human qualaties and weaknesses, but they are so absurdly strong and rational in the face of danger that the extra "weaknesses" that he gives them don't really make you feel like there is something wrong with them. Zooey Daschanel's character's weaknesses is that she had dessert with some guy from work before the event happened, but it is quickly forgotten and forgiven by the cool rational mind, and it is really insignificant in comparision to what is going on. This shows up throughout the film. The level headedness of the poeople in Central Park or in the construction area is just absurd. The people seem to be watching mass suicide with a bored eye.
Visually this film disappoints as well. It is like a kiddie 'R' rated movie. I've seen PG-13 movies with as much blood and gore. When you have the license to make an 'R' rated film, you can't waste it like Shyamalan does. The more disturbing and violent the deaths are, and it helps the film. Especially if you have the guts to take care of some of the more important characters. You could argue that his deaths were Hitchcockian in nature, but they really don't do justice to Hitchcock. They are more simple, boring little deaths of people that you don't feel for at all, and you don't really care what is going on behind the door or hill or whatever, because the characters are such a disappointment.
Overall this is a pretty subpar film. I've only seen one Shyamalan film that I really like, Unbreakable, and I have yet to see The Sixth Sense, but from the rest of his work, the only one that I currently find at all enjoyable to watch is Lady in the Water otherwise Shyamalan has just ended up putting out predictable work. This film isn't without a few good parts, especially the first few scenes, but otherwise it really doesn't do much to excite or interest the viewer.
Overall Grade: D-
Story: D-
Acting: C
Audio/Visual: C
M. Night Shyamalan comes back into his genre of twists and turns and mystery and horror. However, after the first few minutes this film fails to deliver any of the twists, turns, and horror that should be expected. It comes in with an 'R' rating, but it doesn't take advantage of that fact.
The story starts off strong. The few scenes in New York City of the people losing control and dieing are very well done. Seeing them stab themselves in the neck of jump off of buildings is disturbing and somewhat scary. After that it settles into a very predictable storyline. The biggest problem with the story that was created was the very, very easy identification of characters that could not, would not, be killed in the film. Once you realize that you are following those characters around, there is no suspense. You know that they won't die, and that everyone around them will die. This is a pretty common problem in horror films, and if you know who is going to survive, there is no suspense around it. And from Shyamalan, you come to expect more in the line of twists and turns. The other problem is the ending of the film. It really ends three times. If it had ended on the first, immediately after the "happening" then it could have been a decent ending. If it had skipped the second ending, it could have worked with only the first and third endings. But all three together just drag on and the punch that is supposed to come with the last ending is completely lost.
With a horror film you also want to feel for the characters and be scared for them. Like I said, since you know that some won't die, it is much harder to feel scared for them. Add in the fact that they never really get to care about the characters, and it is just general indifference to them. Shyamalan tries to give them human qualaties and weaknesses, but they are so absurdly strong and rational in the face of danger that the extra "weaknesses" that he gives them don't really make you feel like there is something wrong with them. Zooey Daschanel's character's weaknesses is that she had dessert with some guy from work before the event happened, but it is quickly forgotten and forgiven by the cool rational mind, and it is really insignificant in comparision to what is going on. This shows up throughout the film. The level headedness of the poeople in Central Park or in the construction area is just absurd. The people seem to be watching mass suicide with a bored eye.
Visually this film disappoints as well. It is like a kiddie 'R' rated movie. I've seen PG-13 movies with as much blood and gore. When you have the license to make an 'R' rated film, you can't waste it like Shyamalan does. The more disturbing and violent the deaths are, and it helps the film. Especially if you have the guts to take care of some of the more important characters. You could argue that his deaths were Hitchcockian in nature, but they really don't do justice to Hitchcock. They are more simple, boring little deaths of people that you don't feel for at all, and you don't really care what is going on behind the door or hill or whatever, because the characters are such a disappointment.
Overall this is a pretty subpar film. I've only seen one Shyamalan film that I really like, Unbreakable, and I have yet to see The Sixth Sense, but from the rest of his work, the only one that I currently find at all enjoyable to watch is Lady in the Water otherwise Shyamalan has just ended up putting out predictable work. This film isn't without a few good parts, especially the first few scenes, but otherwise it really doesn't do much to excite or interest the viewer.
Overall Grade: D-
Story: D-
Acting: C
Audio/Visual: C