Is ‘The Happening’ Really As Bad As They Are Saying?

When I went to see Iron Man at the weekend, an interesting trailer preceded the film, after all that is what trailers do. The Happening looks great on paper, with a class director in M. Night Shyamalan, a good cast, and an intriguing storyline. I left the cinema with my girlfriend adding The Happening to our ever increasing list of movies to see over the next few months.

However, I’ve now changed my mind, based on the sheer amount of poor reviews and negative coverage the film has been receiving from fans and critics alike.

The Happening is currently sitting on Rotten Tomatoes with a 19% approval rating. If you want to know how bad that means it is, it rates lower than Drillbit Taylor and What Happens in Vegas! That’s some bad stuff right there. But is the criticism justified?

I of course haven’t seen the film, and am currently refusing to out of the sheer principle of not wanting to give my money to a poor production. But there are many who do have an opinion on the matter.

As a writer at MTV Movies explains, even he as a fan of Shyamalan can’t recommend the movie. The reason for its poor rating? Bizarre performances for starters, with Mark Wahlberg miscast, and Zooey Deschanel described as if he “looks and sounds more frightened to be acting in the movie than to actually be experiencing the events in the movie.” That’s not good.

There’s also the fact that the film is said to fizzle out, and bore the audience despite being under the 100 minute mark, and the shoddiness of having a boom mike visible on screen a few times. And this is a Hollywood blockbuster?

Go and see The Happening for yourself by all means, but just don’t expect to experience a great cinematic experience that you will remember for years to come. Unless of course you intend to see the end of Shyamalan’s career.