su·per·cil·i·ous

Website: thehappeningmovie.com
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Lead: Mark Wahlberg
Co-Star: Zooey Deschanel
Genre: Drama/Mystery/Sci-Fi
Runtime: 90mins
Rating: MA
Stars: 2

Hmm. M. Night Shyamalan has seen his own efforts in film making turn from bad to worse - and this is well down the list of his flicks in order of quality. The Sixth Sense was the standout best of his films, then their was The Village which was just weird and now we have The Happening.

Like his other films this one has some things going for it. The visuals are always good. The interpersonal dynamics always make for interesting watching. There is the predictable end of the world scenario that we have come to expect from him as well. The sound of the wind is about the scariest thing you will find in this film (lest you be disturbed by the frequently horrible suicide scenes).

The film opens with New York's Central Park which is swept by the aforementioned wind and then people start to act oddly. There is a scream. People stand still and suddenly consturction works start to take a dive from the multistorey office block they are working on.

We then switch out focus to Philadelphia where our hero Elliott (Mark Wahlberg) adn his wife Alma (Zooey Deschanel) have decided to seek refuge from the city - fearing that their city may come under attack from the terrorists who must have released this airborne neuro-toxin that is forcing people to kill themselves. They are joined by their friend (John Leguizamo) and his daughter (Ashlyn Sanchez), but it is soon a party of three when the father goes to look for his wife. 

Theories abound about what is happening - which seems to be isolated to the north east USA - and targetting smaller and smaller populations of people. Is it terrorism? Was it natures revenge? Or did the CIA accidentally release some new weapon? What is triggering the attacks? How do you escape it? These are all the questions that Elliott asks himself as he, Alma and the young girl travel to more and more remote communities trying to escape.

The major problem with the film however is that the explanation at the end is not one of Shyamalan's trademark twists. It is a complete cop-out. This made is a total disappointment to me - having braced myself for the possibility that it was going to take me somewhere completely unexpected. Ouch.