M. Night Shyamalan burst on the international film scene with 1999’s The Sixth Sense, which was nominated for six Academy Awards including Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. He followed that success by writing and directing Unbreakable, released in 2000. The film received mixed reviews and a lukewarm box office reception. Signs, released in 2002, received better reviews and strong box office returns, but his 2004 follow-up, The Village was a critical disaster whose box office dropped dramatically after a strong opening weekend and Lady in the Water (2006) could be considered an outright box office bomb. That being said, Shyamalan was likely looking for a hit, with 2008’s The Happening.
Originally titled The Green Effect and later changed to The Happening, Shyamalan had trouble getting financing for this film. Twentieth Century Fox finally agreed to take it on, but only after extensive rewriters to the script were completed. After watching The Happening, I shudder to think what the original script must have looked like. As it is, the final film features an invisible killing machine that looks like something out of Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
A couple of twenty-something’s are sitting on a bench in Central Park talking, when suddenly everything stops. One of them thumbs through a book she has in her lap, stammers about forgetting what page she’s on, and then drives a hair pin straight through her neck. Then things shift to a construction site where a couple of workers are joking around, only to be startled when the dead body of one of their co-workers plummets from the site just a few feet away. They barely have time to react when another body falls, and then another. The camera pans up, and dozens of construction workers begin walking to their deaths.
There’s no warning, set up or reason for any of this. We have no clue why any of this is happening or what might be causing it–people all over New York are killing themselves for some completely unknown reason. It’s very horrific and makes you think we might have the makings of a decent horror movie here.
Unfortunately for Shyamalan, the first few minutes of the film are the highpoint of the film. After that initial jolt of adrenaline, the story quickly runs out of steam. As it turns out, there’s an airborne toxin that’s running rampant in the Northeast. The film centers on Elliot Moore (Mark Wahlberg) a science teacher who tries to hightail it out of Philadelphia with his wife Alma (Zoey Deschanel) when news of the outbreak begins to spread. They’re invited to stay with nervous math teacher Julian (John Leguizamo) and his daughter (Ashlyn Sanchez), but the trains shut down before they can get his mother’s home. From there, things get fairly formulaic: run around, try to figure out what to do as the clock is ticking. Watch in horror as people are slaughtered and try to seek refuge with a constantly diminishing group of survivors. Doesn’t this sound similar to a dozen or so films that have been made through the years?
If M. Night Shyamalan continues putting out films like this, he clearly won’t be the next Spielberg, as some anointed him after the originality and success of The Sixth Sense. He seems to be in a creative downward spiral that’s getting worse with each film. Instead of trying to come up with an original concept, Shyamalan appears to have gone for shock value–crafted a story with a story with as much death and destruction as he could to garner his first “R” rating. Whatever the director’s goal, The Happening represents a tremendous waste of his time and talent.
Presented by Fox in every critic’s favorite “Screening Only” review copy format (complete with random logo placement), it’s hard to comment on the image here. The transfer offered is impressive, but then again, it’s not final product. One hopes the actual 1.85:1 widescreen anamorphic image surpasses the slightly compressed version experienced for this review.
Though information indicates that this screener provides all the necessary sonic situations of the final Fox packaging, this critic will again reserve judgment. The Dolby Digital 5.1 offered was good. The dialogue is clear.
For a film that performed so poorly at the box office, The Happening has an impressive slate of special features:
• Deleted Scenes (15:44) – Four deleted scenes. Only one of these (an alternate opening) is an actual cut scene. The rest extend existing scenes, adding some more blood and gore.
• The Hard Cut (9:02) – M Night discusses making an “R” rated film. He focuses on a scene that involves violent death concerning a few children – one of the many scenes that pushed the boundaries of the film.
• I Hear You Whispering (4:18) – Focuses on the character of Mrs. Jones. Actress Betty Buckley dominates the piece, giving her perspective on the character. Other cast and crew members weigh in, as well.
• The Happening – Visions of The Happening (11:54) – Interviews with several key members of the cast and crew reveal their respective approaches and opinions on the material.
• A Day for a Night (6:45) – M. Night during a full day of shooting, highlighting his statements that he spurts out to his actors, camera operators and director of photography.
• Elements of a Scene (10:11) – Breaks down a scene in which a car crashes into a tree, and an actor emerges from it unscathed in one continuous shot. Each stage from pre-visualization to final visual effects is explained and showcased.
• Gag Reel (2:52) – On set tomfoolery.
