|
M Night Shyamalan couldn't possibly dine forever on the success of The Sixth Sense. For years now, the man has gotten by solely on the best traits of Sixth Sense (atlhough his second film, Unbreakable, is better in every way but criminally ignored). Time after time, filmgoers either accepted or ignored such nonsense present in his movies as aliens who can leap onto roofs of buildings but can't kick down a wooden door. Then, the animosity twoards him started to build up when he cast himself as a martyred screenwriter whose work saves the world. The Happening, heavily marketed as his first 'R' rated movie, could have been his return to form. So, there's almost a kind of serendipity to the fact that there's a scene in which his characters outrun the wind. The Happening commits that one fatal sin so many movies of its kind end up succumbing to - It takes itself far too seriously. With a conept so outlandish (plants are emitting a toxin that makes people commit suicide), it might have worked as a campy 'B' movie but sadly, it's in the hands of a writer/director who thinks himself as a visionary, so is presented with the kind of callous arrogance that has sunk superior efforts (Hulk, anyone?). Whereas The Happening is presented as a super-serious, character-driven supernatural horror movie, it instead frequently moves into the unintentionally hilarious, such as one scene in a bar in which a random woman barks "YOU MUST WATCH THIS!" and forces Mark Wharlberg to watch a home video of a man deliberately feeding himself to a pack of lions. Mark Whalberg puts in a campy, embarressed lead performance that really is next to impossible to take seriously, Zooey Deschanel, who is normally more comfortable with comedic roles, always looks out of her depth and uncomfortable, especially during Shyamalan's hopelessly misguided attempts at comedy and John Leguizamo, who can be a charasmatic, attention-demanding supporting actor, is woefully miscast in a thankless role that could have been played by any of the numerous struggling actors in America without any noticeable difference. The Happening is proof positive that Shyamalan needs to get over himself, hire a scriptwriter once in a while and pull his head out of the sand. The Sixth Sense's reputation can only go so far, after all. 2/5
|
#
¿
Jul 7, 2008 16:52
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 25, 2024 17:19 |
|