The Happening: Wasted Attempt at a Great Movie

Off Topic
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Yeah, I know it’s old. I just got around to seeing it on a pirated DVD (I’m a criminal, I know), and by the end I felt utterly let down. What were they thinking?

First off, there was Mark Wahlberg and his magic ring that changes colours according to how he feels. WTF? I was expecting that bullshit to have at least SOMETHING to do with the plot, but as the end credits rolled by, I guessed that they needed some bullshit to drone on about while everyone is offing themselves. The script practically wrote itself. Yeah, a huge disaster is looming ahead, now how 'bout my cool ring?

Marky Mark gave, IMO, a mixed performance. One minute he showcases some great emotional display (consoling the little girl, talking to his students), the next he whines like a little bitch at some boarded-up people in a house. “Please let us in! I don’t think it’s in the air, we are all fine! Oh no, I don’t think it’s the terrorists, sir!”

And his wide eyed reactions to some pretty horrific shit going on around him were very amusing, to say the least. He’s like a poor man’s Keanu Reeves. “Omigod, this dude is getting his shit ruined by a huge lawnmower. Like, woah!”

John Leguizamo was, simply put, terrible. Sure, he ACTED nice, like a lifer would act nice in front of the parole board. I kept expecting him to go berserk and pull out a shotgun and start killing folks for no reason. He’s much more convincing as a bad guy.

The high point of the film was when that annoying kid was gunned down through the door he was kicking at. Boom! Who’s the bitch now, huh?

And the explanation? That half assed, 30 second clip from a TV show that explains absolutely NOTHING, except that the plants have had enough with the human race and just decided to start farting neurotoxins in a specific part of the USA, and in France later on? Bullshit. “We don’t understand how the plantlife works”.

Riiiight. It attacks large groups of people, but if you’re alone and upwind, you’re cool. Why did the crazy old hag start breaking windows with her head, then? She was alone, and her craziness served simply as a justification to kill her off, plotwise.

The plant neurotoxins make people pause like they’re on DVD (which, ironically, they were when I watched The Happening), then start babbling incoherently and walking backwards. Real logical.

The reason for this rant is that it could have been a hell of a movie, if they simply took the time to explain shit. I guess they ran out of money and the deadline was close, so they went “Ah, what the hell, let’s call it a day”. Fucking shame.

Sorry for the spoilers, everyone! :stuck_out_tongue:

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I was planning my whole weekend around seeing that film.

Thanks for saving me the time, effort, and money. Now I’m going to kill every plant on my property instead.

lol

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sigh

http://www.T-Nation.com/free_online_forum/music_movies_girls_life/the_happening

And yeah the movie sucked, it was M. Night - What’d you expect?

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Yeah… Movie sucked. Horrible writing + Bad Acting + Lame Plot. Not a great recipe.

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Wow! Way to beat everyone to the punch with your review of this movie.

This thread should have been titled, “Wasted attempt at a thread to discuss a bad movie that has already been discussed AT LENGTH in several other threads”, but that’s probably a little too long.

I really don’t think you have to worry about the spoilers at this point either. Did you know that Bruce Willis’ character was dead the whole time during The Sixth Sense? Sorry if I spoiled that for you.

You actually watched this on a bootleg recently? It only costs a few bucks to rent. How cheap are you?

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Yes, the flick sucked, but what’s a real bummer is that it could have been great. Awesome concept, but never developed like it should have been. This has been the trend with anything sci fi related- the trailers look cool, but you want your $ back before the credits start rolling.

Any ideas about whay the hell this keeps “happening”? Most of the sci fi from the 50s and 60s was campy, but at least it delivered!

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I like how the selling point for this film when it came out was M. Night’s first R-rated film. He must be getting desperate with his movies.

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[quote]AngryVader wrote:

You actually watched this on a bootleg recently? It only costs a few bucks to rent. How cheap are you?[/quote]

I got it for free. So the answer to your question would be “very cheap”.