This major studio release asks the question, how long can you survive on past glories? Shame on Shyamalan.
Comment
06/22/08
The Happening (2008)
18
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:169
Fresh:31
Rotten:138
Average Rating:4.1/10
Consensus: The Happening begins with promise, but unfortunately descends into an incoherent and unconvincing trifle.
Theatrical Release:13-06-2008
Synopsis: M. Night Shyamalan directs this thriller about a science teacher (Mark Wahlberg) who tries to escape with his wife and friend's daughter after an apocalyptic event. THE HAPPENING costars Zooey... [More]
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel, John Leguizamo, Betty Buckley
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Reviews for The Happening
An atmospheric tale that rewards with genuine shocks instead of big bang explosions and a hamburger tie in.
06/22/08
[N]owhere near the level of The Sixth Sense, and not quite as good as the subsequent Unbreakable, Signs, and The Village, but at least it suggests that the awfulness of Lady in the Water may have been an aberration.
06/20/08
Shyamalan's ideas might have more impact in a half-hour 'Twilight Zone' episode, where they would be shorn of some of the pretensions that seem to be mandatory in the feature-length work of a one-time Best Director Oscar nominee.
06/20/08
It's hard to believe that at one time Shyamalan was being touted as the next Steven Spielberg by Newsweek magazine, but if things keep going the way they are now, Uwe Boll might end up being a better comparison. And boy is that depressing.
06/20/08
Mark Wahlberg's sturdy performance saves The Happening from becoming a protracted Saturday Night Live spoof of M. Night Shyamalan movies.
06/20/08
I'm shaking my head now like a caring teacher grading a poor assignment written by a bright student.
06/20/08
There are some creepy moments but overall The Happening is a bit of a non-event.
06/20/08
Might be perceived by some as all peaches and cream for entertainment value even if everything else about it is not happening.
06/19/08
...some nice creepy moments -- but other moments, and more, of (presumably) unintended humor.
06/19/08
Other than its ripe possibility for mockery, I cannot think of anything that makes the film really worthwhile.
06/18/08
When a movie's best bit arrives during the closing credits, we're all in trouble.
06/18/08
Only half good cinema, seemingly the result of its maker's stunted belief/determination in both himself and his audience.
06/18/08
A better title for M. Night Shyamalan’s The Happening would be Nonsense. It’s like an amusement park ride that has no reason for being -- and no meaning -- besides visceral excitation. Only difference is that The Happening isn’t fun.
06/18/08
The slight premise, coupled with some very bad performances by the cast as well as a screenplay filled with ham-fisted dialogue makes for a film that's not scary and borders on being ridiculous at times.
06/18/08
For a movie with the potential for so much global-warming electricity, it’s disappointingly low on voltage.
06/18/08
What you end up with is a cross between Roland Emmerich's The Day After Tomorrow and Shyamalan's Signs.
06/18/08
Só podemos deduzir que o próximo projeto de Shyamalan será melhor do que este Fim dos Tempos porque sabemos que ele (ou qualquer outro cineasta) dificilmente seria capaz de fazer algo pior.
06/17/08
Rather than [the R-rating]being an opportunity-opening device for writer/director Shyamalan to pull out of his toolbox, the graphic violence that got him that rating is more like a monkey wrench.
06/17/08
Nothing 'happening' here
06/17/08
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June 16, 2008:
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