I'm a huge Night fan, that's why I'm a member of this site and why I own all of his films on DVD. Recently I've been watching all of his previous work, in anticipation for "The Happening". This was a great way of looking at how he constructs all of his films and got me really excited for his latest story.
To drive the point home, I want to stress that I'm not just a casual movie fan. I'm studying film and would one day love to write and produce my own stuff, Night has been an important influence on my style and storytelling so I've always kind of "looked up" to his films.
Boy oh boy, I was terribly disappointed with "The Happening"...this film is terrible.
There are little to no redeeming values in the movie, it's a like a spoof of a b-horror movie...except it's not a spoof, its taking itself seriously. Night is normally able to draw great performances from his actors, that is not the case here. Mark Whalberg and Zoey Deschanel are wooden and seem to be rehearsing lines during the entire film. The supporting actors are o.k, but there isn't a stand out moment in the film at all in terms of acting.
I think the main problem is the script in general. We're thrown right into the middle of the action, so we're basically told what's going on straight away. The rest of the movie spends so much time trying to explain itself to us, through clunky unrealistic dialogue, that we loose all emotional attachment to the characters.
Likewise the scares seem to be non-existent. Yes, there's a lot of violence...but where's the tension building that we all love from Shyamalan so much? I miss those extremely long shots which help to create the atmosphere (like when the Aliens arrive to harvest in Signs, and kill the family dog). Even James Newton Howard's score is lackluster, where were the themes which he normally builds so well?
All in all, I was severely disappointed and I honestly don't know what to expect from Night in the future.
