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The
Happening (2008)
  
Review
At the start of his
career, M. Night Shyamalan could do nothing wrong. His
three first films, The
Sixth Sense, Unbreakable and
Signs
where groundbreaking, trendsetting chillers of immaculate cinematic
brilliance. His best achievement was how he always was able to create characteristic, chilling atmospheres. In a time dominated by a surplus of
mechanical, unremarkable horror in which uncreative writers and
directors rely on sound effects for scares, Shyamalan was a breath of
fresh air. His wildly disappointing
Lady in the
Water two years ago was arguably the first time the
director wasn't able to create his trademark horror ambience. With The
Happening, he proves that he still has the touch.
That being
said, The
Happening has inherited some of Lady in the Water's
weaknesses. The difference is that they are less of a problem for the
overall effect this time. The
acting is uneven to say the least, and when Shyamalan sticks his camera
in the performers' faces for lengthy dramatic effect, it can be hard to take him
seriously. There is often a whiff of self-importance in the works of
Shyamalan – a quality which gives The Happening a classic B-movie feel
– but what a B-movie is has become! I'm quite certain Tarantino would
have loved the tone created here, as we
are presented one of the eeriest thriller premises since... well, since
Shyamalan was last in this kind of form. The narrative structure is
reminiscent of last year's
I Am Legend, but I have no trouble
enjoying such spine-chilling, delicately apocalyptic stories two years
in a row. Whether or not a film like this is scientifically accurate is
of less importance; what matters is that it's able to present itself as relevant. And even if The Happening
hasn't quite got the class of Francis
Lawrence's film, it matches it on tension and suspense.
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