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Review of:  The Happening

Overall Rating: 1 F—

Unfortunately betrayal and hurt was the only thing that happened from The Happening.  This movie was a terrible waste of time and money.  Please spare your self, this film is not even worth renting or wasting time on when it eventually gets put on TV.  It lacked an internal consistency, characters that we cared about, and a surprise twist.  The only good thing this film provides is as an example of how a great premise can be made terrible through poor choices, poor writing and poor editing.

The Happening is about when a Philadelphia high school science teacher Elliot Moore (Mark Wahlberg) and other people begin encountering breakdowns in human behavior in major American cities that lead to chilling deaths that seem to be willing suicides committed by the victims. Appearing to be a disease of some sort, the victims undergo a series of steps: loss of speech, followed by disorientation, and the third step is “fatal.” Moore flees from the crisis into Pennsylvania farmlands with his estranged wife Alma (Zooey Deschanel), math teacher friend Julian (John Leguizamo), and his daughter Jess (Ashlyn Sanchez) (via Wikipedai).

Likes

• Zooey Deschanel did a good job acting in the film.
• The Idea / Premise behind the film was fascinating.
• M. Night Shyamalan did have some moments of supernatural horror in the film. I will give him credit for the brilliant terrifying scene where we just get to see the feet hear the sounds and then see the feet again.
• Although most of the surprises in the film were overly predictable and taken from the book of bad movie devices they at lease refrained from one *****Spoiler Alert***** they didn’t kill the child *****End Spoiler Alert *****

Dislikes / Concerns

• Movie was overly predictable.  We got to the point where we made the predictability of the movie into a game where we would call a countdown to a camera pan or a change from one person to another.
• The movie felt like it was written by committee.  Far too many ideas seemed neutered.  There were so many devices and people put in for no purpose at all and they even contradicted events that happened merely minutes earlier.
• There was far too much time spent on characters I just didn’t care about.
• I didn’t think nor have the expectation that the happening was a monster film so why was the wind treated as if it was a monster.  Even the filming techniques were handled as if I we were watching a monster film turning the happening into a monster film that lacked a monster.
• The movie was far too long and slow moving.  If we were to cut out all of the inconsistent, unnecessary and repetitive parts there would be about 30 minutes of true terror left.  It would have made a nice short film… maybe.
• The not so dramatic cheating subplot:  it was terrible, unsatisfactory, over dramatized and much better done on the Simpsons where at least Marge not only had brunch with another man but she also went bowling.

• That entire part would have made the movie better if it had been cut and we were just left with knowing they had a fight in the past without the reason why.
• This part of the movie made me not like the two main characters even more after learning why they were fighting this is very bad because the tension is lost when the viewer could care less if the lead characters die.

Where’s the Twist?  M. Night Shyamalan is well known for having a wonderful twist to his movies but that did not happen in the happening.

Most of the characters actions felt scripted and lacked an internal consistency.  The most prominent example of this being John Leguizamo’s character.  He is a math teacher who has a passion for probability.  He knows the probability of his wife’s survival is very low and yet leaves his daughter… Why???

***** Spoiler Alert ***** The wind chase scene was terrible.   First, I liked the scene in Planet of the Apes, I like some other movies that put in an homage to that scene, but this was not one of them.  It’s hard to make the wind into a monster, why didn’t they make it a cloud of pollen or some kind of yellow  cloud.  Then we would have had something visual that could have risen, fallen, lurk and chase people.  It would have made the whole movie far more dramatic and given a more terrifying visual monster. *****End Spoiler Alert*****

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Don’t wait. Guarantee your seat before you go and avoid a sold out show. Skip the box office lines and buy movie tickets at Fandango.com.

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The Plot / Story: Philadelphia high school science teacher Elliot Moore (Mark Wahlberg) and other people begin encountering breakdowns in human behavior in major American cities that lead to chilling deaths that seem to be willing suicides committed by the victims. Appearing to be a disease of some sort, the victims undergo a series of steps: loss of speech, followed by disorientation, and the third step is “fatal.” Moore flees from the crisis into Pennsylvania farmlands with his estranged wife Alma (Zooey Deschanel), math teacher friend Julian (John Leguizamo), and his daughter Jess (Ashlyn Sanchez) (via Wikipedai).

I gave the trailer a 5 out of 5. It succeeds in showing us what the story of “The Happening” is about. We get a good feeling of suspense and fear of the unknown. The trailer really sets up the confusion over the tradgedy that is striking the characters in this tale and leaves me guessing over what it exactly is.

I think this will be a Theater. First the names involved in this movie really builds faith in this being a really good film. I really enjoy M. Night Shyamalan’s style and for some unknown reason Zooey Deschanel is very compelling to me that and I have enjoyed all of the films that I have seen her in. Also John Leguizamo is in the film and I really enjoy his acting and his ability to play a diverse role of characters. At first I was concerned that this was just another Outbreak film but after looking into it more I get a feeling that it is much more. I actually have 3 theories over what has happened to everyone in the film so I will have to see this weekend wether or not my guess is right.

For more information about The Happening see Theater or Renter: June 2008

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It’s time once again for our favorite game “Theater Or Renter?”

Rules of the Game: Watch the trailers. Rate the Trailer. Then Put in your comments below the trailer: does the trailer and buzz make you want to watch it in the theater, rent it, or not interested at all, and why?

For June we have eight movies: Mongol, Kung Fu Panda, The Incredible Hulk, The Happening, Get Smart, The Love Guru, WALL·E, Wanted

Mongol: Watch The Theatrical Trailer Release Date: June 6th Listed as: Drama, History Studio: Picturehouse Entertainment Director: Sergei Bodrov Written by: Sergei Bodrov with Arif Aliyev Produced by: Sergei Selyanov, Anton Melnik, and Bulat Galimgereyev Stars: Tadanobu Asano, Amadu Mamadakov, Khulan Chuluun The Plot / Story: Mongol looks at the life and legend of Genghis Khan. It follows Temudgin from his perilous childhood through to his adulthood and the battle that sealed his destiny as Genghis Kahn. (The Official Site)

Kung Fu Panda: Watch The Trailer Release Date: June 6th Listed as: Animation, Action, Comedy, Family Studio: DreamWorks Animation Director: Mark Osborne John Stevenson Written by: Jonathan Aibel, Glenn Berger Stars: Jack Black, Ian McShane, Angelina Jolie The Plot / Story: Kung Fu Panda is about Po (Jack Black) who is a panda bear that is recruited by a team of Kung Fu masters to help protect the Valley of Peace from an evil snow leopard. (The Official Site) get your copy here

The Incredible Hulk: Watch The Trailer Release Date: June 13th Listed as: Action, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Superhero Flix Studio: Marvel Enterprises Director: Universal Pictures Produced by: Written by: Zak Penn, Edward Norton Stars: Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, Tim Roth, William Hurt The Plot / Story: The Incredible Hulk, also known as Hulk 2, is a tale about Bruce Banner the Geneticist and his quest for a cure for a condition that turns him into a raging monster known as the Hulk that lives within him. The military wants to learn how to control the Hulk and use Bruce’s research to create super soldiers. In the end they only create an even more deadly monster known as The Abomination. Even though this is the second in the recent Hulk series they are not ignoring the original nor continuing events put forth in that film. (The Official Site)

The Happening: Watch The Trailer Release Date: June 13th Listed as: Drama, Sci-Fi Studio: Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation Director: M. Night Shyamalan Produced by: Written by: M. Night Shyamalan Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel, John Leguizamo The Plot / Story: Philadelphia high school science teacher Elliot Moore (Mark Wahlberg) and other people begin encountering breakdowns in human behavior in major American cities that lead to chilling deaths that seem to be willing suicides committed by the victims. Appearing to be a disease of some sort, the victims undergo a series of steps: loss of speech, followed by disorientation, and the third step is “fatal.” Moore flees from the crisis into Pennsylvania farmlands with his estranged wife Alma (Zooey Deschanel), math teacher friend Julian (John Leguizamo), and his daughter Jess (Ashlyn Sanchez) (via Wikipedai). (via Wikipedai) (The Official Site)

Get Smart: Watch The Trailer Release Date: June 20th Listed as: Action, Comedy Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures Director: Peter Segal Produced by: Alex Gartner, Charles Roven, Andrew Lazar Written by: Tom J. Astle, Matt Ember Stars: Steve Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway, Dwane Johnson, Alan Arkin, Terence Stamp, James Caan The Plot / Story: Control agent Maxwell Smart (Carrell) is sent on his first mission which is to stop KAOS in their latest plot for world domination. Agent 99 (Hathaway) is sent with him to keep Maxwell Smart out of trouble. (The Official Site) Get your copy of Get Smart here

The Love Guru: Watch The Trailer Release Date: June 20th Listed as: Comedy Studio: Paramount Pictures Director: Marco Schnabel Produced by: Mike Myers, Gary Barber Written by: Graham Gordy, Mike Myers Stars: Mike Myers, Jessica Alba, Justin Timberlake The Plot / Story: Pitka (Meyers) an American raised outside of his country by gurus devotes his life to helping troubled couples. He returns to the States to get into the self-help business. He uses unorthodox methods to resolve his first challenge which is to settle the romantic troubles of a professional hockey player (Malco) whose wife left him for a rival lover (Timberlake) before the NHL Stanley Cup. (The Official Site)

WALL·E: Watch The Trailer Release Date: June 27th Listed as: Action, Comedy, Family, Romance, Sci-Fi Studio: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures / Pixar Director: Andrew Stanton Produced by: Jim Morris, John Lasseter, Lindsey Collins Written by: Andrew Stanton Stars: Ben Burtt, Sigourney Weaver, Jeff Garlin, Fred Willard, John Ratzenberger, Kathy Najimy The Plot / Story: According to John Lasseter: WALL-E is the story of the last little robot on Earth. He is a robot and his programming was to help clean up. You see, it’s set way in the future. Through consumerism, rampant, unchecked consumerism, the Earth was covered with trash. And to clean up, everyone had to leave Earth and set in place millions of these little robots that went around to clean up the trash and make Earth habitable again. Well, the cleanup program failed with the exception of this one little robot and he’s left on Earth doing his duty all alone. He doesn’t know he can’t stop working. But it’s not a story about science fiction. It’s a love story, because, you see, WALL·E falls in love with EVE, a robot from a probe that comes down to recover the last plant left on Earth, which curious little Wall-E has picked up. He absolutely falls in love with her. (The Official Site)

Wanted: Watch The Trailer Release Date: June 27th Listed as: Action, Thriller Studio: Picturehouse Entertainment Director: Timur Bekmambetov Produced by: Marc Platt, Jason Netter, Jim Lemley Written by: Derek Haas, Michael Brandt, Chris Morgan, Dean Georgaris Stars: James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman, Thomas Kretschmann, Angelina Jolie The Plot / Story: Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy) is offered the opportunity to seek revenge in the murder of his father, who was an assassin. Gibson is invited by his father’s partner, Sloan (Morgan Freeman), to follow in his father’s footsteps.[2] Sloan’s second-in-command (Angelina Jolie) mentors Gibson,[3] who follows the death orders issued by the Fates, weavers who read individuals’ destinies in fabrics produced by mystical looms (via wikipedia). (The Official Site)

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