Huh?
Written: Aug 10 '08
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| seacow's Full Review: The Happening |
A lot of times we come into something and end up being disappointed. It’s funny how you can also come into something not expecting anything at all and still be disappointed. After watching The Village, also by M. Night Shyamalan, I came into The Happening not really expecting anything. I have to say I was disappointed.
The movie starts with people in Central Park killing themselves. One woman takes a needle to her neck. A few shoot themselves. Cut to Philadelphia where Elliot Moore is teaching his class. He gets word that the school is closing and everyone is going home. They just got word of what happened in New York City and want to let people prepare for the worst, not that anyone knows anything.
Is it an isolated incident? Is it part of something bigger? Is it a natural disaster? Could it be a terrorist attack? All of a sudden, people start jumping off of buildings and running into traffic. More people shoot themselves. It looks like there’s some kind of toxin that causes people to not only disregard their own lives, but to actively seek out ways to kill themselves. It’s just happening without cause or warning.
Moore takes his wife, friend and friend’s child with them out of town while the friend’s wife stays behind. Since we’re dealing with a few incidents so far, it’s hard to tell where they plan to run. All they know is that they have to leave town. The bulk of the rest of the movie is the Moores running from town to town with the friend’s child in tow after the friend goes back to find his wife.
The movie seems mostly to be about the carnage. In that respect, I noticed several things. First, gunshots seem to be prevalent. If a six people and a gun were present, you could count on six gun shots. Also, it was odd how all of the suicide attempts were fatal. There was no one sitting on the side of the road in pain. When people tied a noose, it never broke. Even gun shots are survivable.
There was no talk of the cleanup and little talk of the aftermath, but it was mostly people on talk shows speculatuion on who it could be and if it would happen again. People seem to move back into Philadelphia as if nothing happened. The movie built up this big disaster and there was no twist. There was no major revelation. It just ended. It’s like Shyamalan has gone from OMG to WTF.
It’s like the movie is setting up for a sequel, but I don’t think I could see it based on this movie. It feels like a lot was left out of it. I think this is one of those movies you should wait to watch on TV or on DVD. I’d give it 2½ stars if I could; I’m going to round up in this case.
Recommended:
No
Film Completeness: Looked complete to me.
Worst Part of this Film: Ending
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Epinions.com ID:
seacow
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 - Top 1000 |
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Member: Brian Kuhl
Location: Biscayne Park, FL, USA
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