We went to an early showing of The Happening this evening (5:00pm) and wanted to post a few observations about a somewhat anticipated movie.
First of all, I think Mark Wahlberg is a pretty decent actor and has turned in some impressive performances for the types of roles he's played.
Secondly, I was looking forward to The Happening as it looked like a good departure from Wahlberg's traditional roles and would push his acting to a new level. I was looking forward to what had been described by some as a great thriller by M. Night Shyamalan, even though I've been somewhat disappointed in his previous movies.
As far as the movie itself, it starts out pretty well and gets the mind thinking quite a bit. The first 10-15 minutes are laid out really well and have you anticipating what's coming next.
After the first 15 minutes, you get fairly bored and the suspense is pretty much out the window. The acting is decent but the plot wanders and loses focus. Expecting things to get better and for a great climax, I set aside the feeling of boredom and hunkered in to the seat.
The only problem, it didn't get better, it just rolled along until it finally came to an anti-climatic ending. The plot came to an extremely disappointing and boring end, but luckily the movie wasn't any longer as it would have made matters worse.
SPOILERS...
I went into the movie with an open mind but the far-fetchedness of the events just seemed too far out there for something that had quite a bit of potential. The premise is that events are taking place that cause people to commit suicide for no apparent reason. The mass suicides start out on a decent note (action-wise) but the eventual reason for these events just seems too stupid to make things enjoyable. Instead of a well thought out excuse, they simply say the trees and bushes revolt against humans and release a deadly toxin that makes people commit suicide dead in their tracks (literally).
For somebody that was expecting a decent movie, I was very underwhelmed and felt that my time could have been better spent doing just about anything else. It wasn't a terrible movie, but one that you'll wish you would have waited to see on DVD - and either via NetFlix or the bargain bin.
A short snippet of MSNBC's review that sums it up very well...
“The Happening†is a big snooze, riddled with awful dialogue and unconvincing performances, all underlined by a dreadful score by James Newton Howard, a composer whose vocabulary is missing the phrase “on the nose.†If this was the movie to rescue the reputation of self-styled genius Shyamalan after the disaster of “Lady in the Water,†then it’s back to the old drawing board.
First of all, I think Mark Wahlberg is a pretty decent actor and has turned in some impressive performances for the types of roles he's played.
Secondly, I was looking forward to The Happening as it looked like a good departure from Wahlberg's traditional roles and would push his acting to a new level. I was looking forward to what had been described by some as a great thriller by M. Night Shyamalan, even though I've been somewhat disappointed in his previous movies.
As far as the movie itself, it starts out pretty well and gets the mind thinking quite a bit. The first 10-15 minutes are laid out really well and have you anticipating what's coming next.
After the first 15 minutes, you get fairly bored and the suspense is pretty much out the window. The acting is decent but the plot wanders and loses focus. Expecting things to get better and for a great climax, I set aside the feeling of boredom and hunkered in to the seat.
The only problem, it didn't get better, it just rolled along until it finally came to an anti-climatic ending. The plot came to an extremely disappointing and boring end, but luckily the movie wasn't any longer as it would have made matters worse.
SPOILERS...
I went into the movie with an open mind but the far-fetchedness of the events just seemed too far out there for something that had quite a bit of potential. The premise is that events are taking place that cause people to commit suicide for no apparent reason. The mass suicides start out on a decent note (action-wise) but the eventual reason for these events just seems too stupid to make things enjoyable. Instead of a well thought out excuse, they simply say the trees and bushes revolt against humans and release a deadly toxin that makes people commit suicide dead in their tracks (literally).
For somebody that was expecting a decent movie, I was very underwhelmed and felt that my time could have been better spent doing just about anything else. It wasn't a terrible movie, but one that you'll wish you would have waited to see on DVD - and either via NetFlix or the bargain bin.
A short snippet of MSNBC's review that sums it up very well...
“The Happening†is a big snooze, riddled with awful dialogue and unconvincing performances, all underlined by a dreadful score by James Newton Howard, a composer whose vocabulary is missing the phrase “on the nose.†If this was the movie to rescue the reputation of self-styled genius Shyamalan after the disaster of “Lady in the Water,†then it’s back to the old drawing board.
Last edited:
