Rama’s SCREEN

This is just sad! I used to be a big fan of M. Night Shyamalan’s movies. Now I just don’t know anymore. Maybe in his mind, this latest creation of his is the next Sistine chapel but we the audiences are left wondering why on earth we are even watching this at all. THE HAPPENING got potential but… it falls short and it’s not that suspenseful, it’s not that edgy, in fact, it comes across as preachy and unnecessary. Wanna know what’s happening? Nothing great… that’s what’s happening.

There’s an event happening, an attack that starts and spreads in the eastcoast areas. It starts in big cities, and then the small towns and the roads. A science teacher and his wife are trying to run away from the epidemic that’s threatening mankind. First sign is loss of speech, second sign is disorientation, and third sign is fatal. The teacher’s best friend leaves his daughter for them to take care of. All three of them escaping the infectious wind that’s blowing over Pennsylvania. Along the way, the couple rekindle their love and what it means to be together.. to the end.

It’s another environmental underlining theme with humans being the bad guys and nature makes its revenge.
Unlike any of his other movies, there’s no drastic twist ending in this one.
It’s got some surprises, scenes that may shock some of you, but to the rest of who’ve see M. Night’s better works, the scenes seem a bit too predictable.
What really bugs me is that some scenes are not intended to be funny but you can’t help but chuckle because of how comical the the sequences go.

Here’s the thing, I think the concept is brilliant. Something in the air is causing humans to self-destruct, they’d lose track of all senses and committ suicide. Rod Sterling, the creator of the famous TV series THE TWILIGHT ZONE, would be really proud. Once again, you gotta hand it to M. Night, the apocalyptic concept is brilliant.
Another take on the end of the world.
But… the deliverance is cheesy. The dialogue, the acting, the directing, the jokes, At times you feel like you’re watching some sort of a B movie made with low quality production.

You know that I like movies that make smart people look and sound real cool. But in this case, the way M. Night tries to incorporate some scientific theories and methods into Mark’s character’s who’s trying to figure out what’s been happening, instead of cool.. it comes across as trying to shove something big to fit into a small space . I find myself saying, ‘Come on,… get outta here!’

I can see why this movie has to be rated R. Because if you take away the violence, then it would be even less entertaining.

Mark Wahlberg does okay as a Science teacher, he creates a peculiar tone voice for his character, it’s like he speaks in a higher pitch than usual. John Leguizamo is a great actor who deserves better gig. Zooey Deschanel does well as the wife who’s not sure what she wants in life but finally knows who she wants to spend her final days with. I’m a big fan of composer James Newton Howard who does the original score for most of M. Night Shyamalan’s movies.

This won’t make me give up on M. Night and his future works, whatever they may be. I still believe that the guy who came up with a great movie like The Sixth Sense still has some ammo left in him.
But I do hope that he’d come to realize one of these days that maybe it’s okay sometimes to make a movie that’s based on other people’s story or screenplay.

* Place the cursor on the image below to check my grade for this film