The Happening (2008)

Worst movie ever, bad direction, worse acting.

Wooden overacting from the two leads (particularly from Mark Wahberg who seems is a constant state of disbelief even when he somehow figures out what is going on and does some very serious dramatic eyebrow lifts with an open mouth!), paper thin script which hardly passes as a thriller/drama/horror movie if that is what it's attempting to be. M. Night Shyamalan is very hit and miss in my book. "The Sixth Sense" was a huge success for good reason but everything that has followed have fallen flat (with the exception of maybe "Unbreakable"). The concepts and stories in his movies are often great ones - they are just poorly delivered. Whether that is because his directions or what is anyone's guess. This same script under someone like Joel Schumacher (director of Number 23 with Jim Carey) would have been a whole different story - even with the same actors. What could have been a dark, moody, suspenseful movie turned out to be a steamly pile of sh#t! Don't waste your time. I'll be time you won't gain back.

one of mark wahlberg's worst movies

Mother Nature takes its revenge on us humans. The film starts reasonably well but becomes increasingly nonsensical as it goes on. The back story involving the main couple doesn???t add much and by the end one wishes the contagion had hit Hollywood. 2,5 stars

I had watched this DVD on SBS a while back and I found it quite interesting and worth another viewing.

This movie was ok. Not very exciting and not to many surprises. Could of been better.

Totally predictable, boring "horror" film. Not worth the dvd it was burnt onto.

This one is different

Another brilliant thriller from M. Night Shyamalan. This movie will have you on the edge of your seat right the the beginning, and have you questioning long after it finishes, whether an event like this could actually happen in the real world.

A thriller with a difference. I really enjoy Shyamalans work because it is always so different. He also does a great job of creating suspense. If you have liked other Shyamalan or Zooey Deschanel movies this one is definently for you.

Absolute dud... most ridiculous movie I've seen for ages.

It was not as impressive as his other films, to much gore, and didnt seem to get any where

Not as good as "Signs", but very much a complete MNS movie. Zooey Deschanel was disappointing, not as calm and expert as in "Tinman" or as "loving" as "500 Days". Definitely worth watching, if only to be shown again the basic stupidity of humanity, as shown in a damn god movie. I would have appreciated a commentary, though..

Script at times was very silly and the main character was extremely irritating and what was that ending all about? Give it a miss. Maybe for the director's fans.

Very unusual.

gripping,

A great movie! a thriller got my suspense up, amazing story line how the trees and plants mess with the peoples heads. and make them commit suicide, this thriller is worth watching!!! Its absolutely great!! 4 out of 5!

top movie.

bad acting badly written plot = waste of time!

This movie has very graphic images of people killing themselves due to some weird chemical being released by plants........must have been very low budget as it did not appeal to me at all

The acting in this movie was so bad it made us laugh out loud! Typical 'low budget' type movie with poor acting. poor story line and poor everything really

A bit weird, but kept us watching.

Well despide what others are saying, I found it to be an exellent movie, despite the horrible ending... Its at least a movie to watch to cross it off the list so to speak.

The potential was there for a great flick but was let down by a weak script and some lackluster acting. The three star rating was what I chose the movie on. If it had been a one star as it should have been I would not have wasted my time. Note to self...read the reviews more carefully next time!

The story is ridiculous but I still love Mark Wahlberg. Zooey Deschanel was good. Tiny little bit of gore which was needed to make it that little bit credible.

I like a good spooky movie, but this one left me non-spooked. I kept thinking, Americans see enemies everywhere, even in the wind.

not a bad movie bit boring in parts Mark Wahlburg overacts again

Ok, some might say that not much happens in The Happening and that it???s predictable ??? both these things are true. However, Shyamalan makes slow and thoughtful movies. No movie he makes is going to be the usual action flick. There???s something compelling about the way he makes his movies - they are just very simple and honest. There are some gauche bits in this but often those bits are very human. His movies remind me of short science fiction stories from old magazines and share their thought-provoking nature, often leaving you with more questions than answers. Definitely not a bad movie, but rather, a very interesting movie.

B grade story line and acting not much better. Watch it if you have nothing else to do but I wouldnt go out of my way to watch it.

B grade storyline and acting not much better. Ridiculous storyline in fact and totally boring, watch if you have nothing else to do.

Unbelievably bad, shocking acting, don't waste the hour and a half.

This is a great movie - it just gets straight into it right from the beginning, and keeps you wanting to watch all the way through. Again, this is a movie whose ending leaves the way open for a sequel.

M. Night Shymalan has quickly become a self-indulgent, B-grade movie maker. It is clear that he is a two-hit wonder, as I enjoyed The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable, but things have gone from bad (The Village) to worse (this one). The constant close ups are annoying, especially when you have Mark Wahlberg in the lead role and he has only two facial expressions, anxious and more anxious. And what is with the creepy old woman? It's like he forgot about the movie he was making and started a new one with the gumpy old hermit, the scary looking dolls and the shadows moving past windows. So not thrilling, not even dramatic. Don't waste your time.

Truly dreadful. If you do watch this at least you will hear some of the most ridiculous lines ever spoken on film, that said avoid and do something useful with the 91 minutes. M. Night Shyamalan gives one hit wonders a bad name

Loved it and a intersting concept especially as I am a greeny.

Just absolute total rubbish! and it's claimed to be a thriller. Don't waste your time.

A waste a time thats simply all I can say. I am very open minded to lets say creative or different story lines, but this??? The one star is for the killing scenes, which are rather creative and will entertain a little bit if you are into that type a stuff.

Very good movie, action from start to finish. A very edge of your seat film

This would have to be the worst bit of acting I have ever seen along with the story line.

Weird but watchable.

Great idea... bad movie. Mr Shyamalan needs to pull his head out if he thinks he can keep doing genre pieces in this manner and woo fans of said genre. The only reason to watch this is to say you saw it and you know how bad it is.

One of the worst scripts in years and some of the most awful acting and clumcy direction in years. I wouldn't be surprised if this disaster ends M. Night Shyamalan's movie career - it ought to!!

Apparently this was intended to play a like a B-grade sci-fi movie. Viewed in that light, The Happening is actually quite good.

liked it. it was different and was shocking in parts..good acting.

This would rate as the worst film I have seen in a long while. The acting, whilst not flash, wasn't too bad; what really let them down was the appalling script they were given to work with and a screenplay that would have been rejected in a High School drama production. The ridiculous premise of the whole thing never had a chance to become plausible, and the one-dimentional characters conveyed nothing either. I only lasted some 40-50 minutes before I hit the 'eject' button and went and found something more interesting to do - like re-arrange my sock drawer.

Enjoyed this movie greatly. Mark WHALBERG is an excellent movie and I usually enjoy anything he is in.

don't bother

A bit slow and poor acting but scary

This movie had no beginning or ending or no resolution.

Really interesting storyline but let down by some poor acting. Wahlberg is capable of more.

M. Night Shyamalan please stop making movies. This is so formulatic that it's blatantly boring - I watched it on "fast forward" and laughed out loud at the ridiculous twist at the end/premise of the whole movie. The usually bodacious Mark Wahlberg is wooden, the usually watchable Zooey Deschanel has one expression throughout. This would have been a great movie in the hands of a different director. Terrible.

firdt time I have rated a movie with no stars...this is a shocker...the first 10 minutes are ok then forget it....I watched "The Ruins" recently a way better movie watch that instead

I actually quite enjoyed this movie, probably because I heard it was so bad I wasn't expecting much. It was much better than Shyamalan's previous efforts. He hasn't done a decent movie since Sixth Sense. Be warned that it has one of those Sci Fi open, unresolved endings, but the concept was pretty interesting, if rather far fetched.

Great start but then whithers away to become a sub-standard movie, Mark Wahlberg is capable of more than this performance.

This started off pretty cool then kinda went down hill! a good idea but thats about it! what a waste! by the end i thought i was going to walk backwalds!lol

What a waste of time

M. Night Shyamalan, who so brilliantly conceived and executed "The Sixth Sense" has well and truly lost his edge with this ludicrous attempt at environmental science fiction. The plot is incoherent, the dialogue is childishly obvious and the characters are caricutured and brittle. No wonder Mark Wahlberg spends the whole film looking like he'd rather be somewhere else. Laughable.

M. Night Shyamalan, who so brilliantly conceived and executed "the Sixth Sense" has clearly lost his edge with this ludicrous attempt at environmental science fiction. The plot is incoherent, the dialogue is childishly superficial and the performances are brittle and caricatured. Laughable.

Due to luke warm reviews and many a panning during this films cinema release I came to this one with low expectations. Shamalan will never again be able to ambush audiences like he did with 6th Sense, but his follow ups do manage to linger. Ignore the bad criticism, some of it comes from a clear anti-climate change agenda much like Andrew Bolts pro American triad in response to Borat. As usual M Night has made a movie designed to follow the viewer home.

I have a shocking habit of hiring movies without reading the reviews. Do yourself a favour and read these. This movie is not worth watching. Mark Wahrburg has proven he can't perform without being surrounded by a team of good actors to carry him. The story line makes little sense and is a poor cousin to so many similar storylines of late. Keep looking and give this a miss.

Really had potential but the script and characters were so predictable and bland... I wouldn't bother I had no idea about "The Happening" and very little interest.

I actually quite enjoyed this movie. I can't believe others reviewing complaining about the ending, have you people not watched Shyamalan movies before? He always leaves the endings open to interpretation. I think this was a salvation following his previous attempt, Lady In The Water. Sure some of the acting seemed a little rushed, but the suspense was there, even a little splatter thrown in for fun. I just hope the rumors are true, and Shyamalan is returning to write a sequel for Unbreakable, by far his best work. If you're a fan of his movies, you'll enjoy this one, if you're tolerant of his movies, it may befuddle you, if you don't like his films, this one won't make you a fan. But i still suggest it's worth a watch, even for the poorly constructed ecological message it contains.

quite simply, probably the worst movie I have seen in years!!

This was an okay movie. I was supprised by some of the actors playing certain roles, that didn't seem believable and their interaction with each other seemed forced. Not as good as some of M. Night Shyamalan's other efforts.

Terrible acting and weak storyline. Very disappointing.

I thought this was very good, except for the lacklustre ending which spoiled it. M Night Shyamalan is certainly very different and not everone's cup of tea - but I've enjoyed all his movies. Zooey Deschanel though, although very attractive, was over the top with her facial expressions - wide eyes, melodramatic worry lines etc ... but overall worth watching I felt.

I was disappointed with this film. I'm a huge fan of M.Night Shyamalan however this movie seemed to fall short. Maybe it was a little 'over hyped' I'm glad I didn't pay the extra cash to see it in the cinema now!

AVOID AT ALL COSTS! What a waste of time. Everything is bad; the plot, the dialogues, the acting and the end is so lame it is ridiculous...

Ruined by the fact you can easily guess very early on in the movie what is actually happening. No suspense follows, you're just going through the motions.

Avoid this movie, it is like the last 3rd of the script was lost. We have a story were some things are happening, then the story develops with the characters trying to avoid this thing happening to them, then the end of the movie comes, no real explanation as to why it is all happening only people guessing at what is causing it and then it ends. What a joke, did I miss something, was there supposed to be a 2nd disc with the resolution to the movie on it ?

Although I found the proposed reason behind the "happening" to be a bit weird, the film was still pretty good, with some interesting scenes. Couldn't help but feel Wahlberg did not have enough takes in some scenes - he is a better actor than this!

The always innovative but ever indulgent M. NIGHT SHYAMALAN writes and directs this cautionary ecological disaster pic which is sure to polarise viewers. MARK WAHLBERG plays a befuddled science teacher who is one of a rapidly diminishing group of people fleeing from an unexplained apocalyptic event. To give anymore of the plot away would spoil one's viewing of this engrossing but uneven flick which has contrasting moments of ludicrous plotting and clunky dialogue pitted against some genuinely unpredictable, suspenseful sequences and quirky moments which evokes equal amounts of intentional and unintentional laughter. And while fickle critics have all but written off this auteur, this latest release does confirm his abundant cinematic talents, persistence of vision and his honourable (but unsubtle) subtexts.

It seems a bit forced. bad...

Hour and a half of my life wasted. Pathetic plot without an ending. I wish I'd read the reviews first instead of just watching the trailer. Avoid!

This movie was ruined by the ending such a interesting story line to end without ending

I never saw Mark Wahlberg acting so badly and I believe the poor screenplay and terrible dialogues are the reasons of such disaster. The plot is so bad and the characters are just out of this world talking like idiots all the way. Ok try to imagine Mark Wahlberg as a science teacher (yep you read well) talking to a plant (yep you read well). M. Night Shyamalan should just stop making movies!