Movie Review - the Happening
I was happy to know that M. Night Shyamalan had a new film coming up. Contrary to film enthusiasts and Shyamalan fans, I enjoyed his previous film, Lady in the Water, pretty well even if it didn't performed well in the box office. I have to say that I got inspired by the film to take a look at studies on folklores.
I expected The Happening to be as great as his previous films and it never failed me. No spoliers here but I say that the film has its strengths and weaknesses. The plot was rather confusing and intriguing to the point of discontentment when things started to reveal themselves one by one. The "human" aspect of the film was not strong enough that made the storyline fail, particulary at the second half. The characters were not established and very quiet but good enough to make the story move at its own pace. I love Mark Wahlberg's character as a HS Science teacher. He was very cute, his voice is a breath of fresh air and it's very unlikely for someone like him to portray a character as good as that. Some effects were uncalled for and I still cannot resolve if I was still watching a Shyamalan film or a Rob Zombie film. The shots were very Shyamalan-esque, especially the lightings.
I'm glad that Shyamalan still ventures in making films that has the "fear of the unknown" concept. Some people will call it silly or very far-fetched, but I like the idea that there are some things in this world that goes beyond human comprehension. The shots that established the story from the beginning (i.e. Einstein's quote, the human body) kept me thinking if these things can be real.
The Happening was a scientific thesis proposal. And it would defnitely take a lot of researches to be able to come up with a well-grounded conclusion to a hypothesis that Shyamalan has presented, but I think the very strength of the film is for us to appreciate things that we never cared about and consider the possibilities that we are not alone in this world.
Oscar invites film ads to its party - Variety
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