1 post tagged “m night shymalan”
I said I wouldn't pay for another M. Night Shyamalan film but the $5 Club was too much for me to resist. This is better than the Lady in the Water but that doesn't mean it was good.
I think the film can sort of be described as a more leisurely 28 Days Later or perhaps a quieter version of Spielberg's War of the Worlds. In all three the situations are pretty much the same: bad things are happening and everyone needs to get out of the city. The reasons are different but the effect is the same and especially in the case of 28 Days Later there is the feeling that anyone around you could turn and become a victim of this without warning.
The title is pretty bad. I don't know about anyone else but when I hear about a "happening, if think about a happening. If it had been called "the event" or something like that, it would be a lot less awkward.
In the commercials they made a big deal about this being "M. Night Shymalan's first R-rated film!" I have to tell you, this has to be the tamest, least gory or sexy R-rated movie ever. If someone says that they begged the MPAA to give it an R rather than a PG-13 I wouldn't be surprised. Sure there is some blood but that is minimal and frequently at a distance. Like pretty much every other M. Night film the people are all but asexual so there's nothing sexy. I don't even remember if there was any cursing.
The problem with the film is that as I said in my comparison to 28 Days Later and War of the Worlds, it is all rather leisurely and quiet (like M. Night's other films). There's never really any sense that any one we care about is in danger. One secondary character dies but it is pretty much a foregone conclusion that the character will die once separated from the group. That character might as well have said, "I'll be right back" and made the horror movie cliche complete. Never do we really feel like any of the main characters are in danger. Moreover, whenever anyone starts to act weird, no one else tries to do anything to stop the person. They just stand there all scarred. After the news had talked all about this going on wouldn't you at least try to stop them? It isn't as if this is a poison. If you tied them up they wouldn't be able to hurt themselves or anything. I suppose that a lack of control is supposed to be where the fear is with people losing control of their inhibitions, unable to control it, and even unable to control where and how they travel because the train stopped and they have no car.
Another big problem is M. Night Shymalan's dialog. He really should have someone take a quick pass at the script and revise the wordings of some things. For example, John Leguizamo says that his wife is in Princeton but he doesn't just say "Princeton." He says "the town of Princeton." Now, I live in the midwest but even I have heard of Princeton. Another example is Zooey Deschanel's character. At lesat two times she says something about "not liking to show her emotions." But what does she do the whole time? That's right, show emotions. If she had only said it once then it would be ok but no, she says it at lest twice in less than 10 minutes.
two thumbs up
It ain't a bad film
if you happen to see it
then go ahead on
I think the film can sort of be described as a more leisurely 28 Days Later or perhaps a quieter version of Spielberg's War of the Worlds. In all three the situations are pretty much the same: bad things are happening and everyone needs to get out of the city. The reasons are different but the effect is the same and especially in the case of 28 Days Later there is the feeling that anyone around you could turn and become a victim of this without warning.
The title is pretty bad. I don't know about anyone else but when I hear about a "happening, if think about a happening. If it had been called "the event" or something like that, it would be a lot less awkward.
In the commercials they made a big deal about this being "M. Night Shymalan's first R-rated film!" I have to tell you, this has to be the tamest, least gory or sexy R-rated movie ever. If someone says that they begged the MPAA to give it an R rather than a PG-13 I wouldn't be surprised. Sure there is some blood but that is minimal and frequently at a distance. Like pretty much every other M. Night film the people are all but asexual so there's nothing sexy. I don't even remember if there was any cursing.
The problem with the film is that as I said in my comparison to 28 Days Later and War of the Worlds, it is all rather leisurely and quiet (like M. Night's other films). There's never really any sense that any one we care about is in danger. One secondary character dies but it is pretty much a foregone conclusion that the character will die once separated from the group. That character might as well have said, "I'll be right back" and made the horror movie cliche complete. Never do we really feel like any of the main characters are in danger. Moreover, whenever anyone starts to act weird, no one else tries to do anything to stop the person. They just stand there all scarred. After the news had talked all about this going on wouldn't you at least try to stop them? It isn't as if this is a poison. If you tied them up they wouldn't be able to hurt themselves or anything. I suppose that a lack of control is supposed to be where the fear is with people losing control of their inhibitions, unable to control it, and even unable to control where and how they travel because the train stopped and they have no car.
Another big problem is M. Night Shymalan's dialog. He really should have someone take a quick pass at the script and revise the wordings of some things. For example, John Leguizamo says that his wife is in Princeton but he doesn't just say "Princeton." He says "the town of Princeton." Now, I live in the midwest but even I have heard of Princeton. Another example is Zooey Deschanel's character. At lesat two times she says something about "not liking to show her emotions." But what does she do the whole time? That's right, show emotions. If she had only said it once then it would be ok but no, she says it at lest twice in less than 10 minutes.
two thumbs up
It ain't a bad film
if you happen to see it
then go ahead on
