mad about movies' blog

the happening

 abuse

OK..  I can't give a review any better than this: I WANT MY MONEY BACK and my TIME BACK.

I can't be any more dissapointed. Because of the nature of this movie, I cannot go into a lot of detail for those of you who will want to go and see this anyway or who may just decide to wait for rental. It is a thriller (suppose to be) so I can't give anything away that will elude to the issue or "happening" of the film

Don't expect any special effects - there aren't many. So those that want eye candy - no go. Which is very odd because this was a "big budget film"

The movie is directed by M. Night Shyamalan.  I will admit up front, that I am one of the rare people who really enjoy his films.

Most people think he is suppose to be a hard core thriller, of which - to the audience's credit- are billed and advertised that way. However, that is not the case. Shyamalan's niche is not thriller - but expect the unexpected. Plane and simple. Each movie has that flavor. In Unbreakable, you were almost convinced that Bruce Willis did indeed have something and he may, or may not have. But again - expect the unexpected - the twist at the end did just that without the movie being a thriller or scary or anything of the sort. The Village is the same way.

The movie stars Mark Wahlberg and John Leguizamo. Two very interesting match ups, but non-the-less, both I enjoy and think are under-rated a great deal. Wahlberg was an actor it took me quite a while to determine if I liked him or not, but once I did, I found I enjoy his acting. Lequizamo has alwyas just surprised me from his very intersting charcters ranging in To Wong Foo Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar (as a drag queen) to his shocking different role in Summer of Sam.

So for me this movie was a must at first. A Director I enjoy with his unexpected storylines that are so farm from the "norm" I can't help but be enterained and two actors I enjoy.

HA! Was I fooled.

The movie is set current time in North Eastern US.  People are dying - killing themselves and no one can understand why. Whalberg and his family and others they meet along the way are desperate to get out of the "big city" because the buzz and speculation is that there is some type of bio-weapon that terrorists have used that is making people just go crazy at an instant and commit suicide.

The opening does grab you and you sort of get excited... and you wait.. and you wait... and you start looking at your watch and trying to remember how long the movie was suppose to be - then adding up the time in your head... and along comes another scene that was almost as good as the opening one... and then it's gone. Pretty much all there was.

No, the military is not the evil ones here - no funky military experiments. No evil government or evil corporations or evil terrorists.

But to some it up. The Happening? Isn't.....