I JUST got back from seeing this movie. While certainly not M. Night’s best film, for some reason, I really like it. I think it’s like an infection…I just wind up liking anything he does. True, I wasn’t wild about the ending either (it was too obvious and happened exactly as was stated in the film), but I thought what was interesting about the movie was that the reason for "the happening" was never fully explained and any theories that the characters ever had about it kept getting disproved, which made it very intriguing.
So, yes, it certainly could’ve been better. But I did really enjoy it and I think M. Night made yet another honorable film.

…Although Mark Walhberg and Zooey Deschanel were WAY too good-looking in this film.

I agree 100% about the ending and bringing the little girl out.

I can’t disagree that the performances in the film were the 1st things to throw me off. It’s as if everyone was out of sync with each other and the tone of the film. It was just plain awkward.

Then the film as whole just felt jumbled and half-baked. Usually what makes M Night’s films work and so interesting is that he takes absurd situations or ideas (ghosts, superheroes, alien invasions) and finds a human and real-world behaviors and truth in them. And here you essentially have an end of the world tale, perfect for M. Night’s ability for injecting that truth, and rarely throughout the film did I feel these were real humans in a real situation. (and again maybe I’m a tad more critical on that end right now b/c I’m living in a city that’s in the midst of an Extreme, can’t win situation).

But if anything, I do have to give M. Night credit for at the very least finding an original apocalyptic story idea. He could have always done a comet to earth story.

This movie just bugged me…that’s probably the best way I can describe it. I do appreciate your attempt to make a better ending. Ever since I watched it earlier today, I’ve been trying to do the same thing. The problem, of course, is that the whole plot line is just ridiculous…and we all realize that fact early on when a person on the news says something to the effect that a chemical can make us kill ourselves. That seemed like a stretch to me; I can’t buy into the fact that some chemical that enters my brain will make me seek out the nearest way to kill myself. Sure, I suppose it’s a creepy idea that we could involuntarily off ourselves, but there’s no non-stupid way to get us to that point. I just get this sense that this movie was trying really hard to not be a zombie movie. They even get to the point where they are running a way from wind. FROM WIND!!

I guess it’s hard to concieve a good ending when you have a crappy beginning…and middle.

Another thing that really got on my nerves was that it took place in Philadelphia…again! We see a lot of the same scenery we’ve seen in previous Night films and I was very aware of this. Then I start getting distracted thinking about whether or not the other films he’s made fit into the same timeline…I mean, how can the people in the Happening not compare this to the great Alien Invasion of a few years before. And is Bruce Willis immune to the attacks? Are we just assuming that each of his movies takes place in some alternate universe? I suppose so - there’s never any mention of pop culture anywhere (except that ridiculous use of the iPhone)…which is actually a smart move. I always get caught up in these stupid mental paradoxes. Like, if the world in The Happening is supposed to be this one, I wonder if Mark Walberg’s character saw The Departed when it came out. Did anyone think they looked similar? But maybe in this world, Mark Walberg doesn’t exist. No big deal…on a collective consciousness level, I don’t think our culture would really miss any of his movies. However, if we were to think about Unbreakable, how in the world could society, as we know it, even exist without Bruce Willis?? He’s responsible for some of the greatest films! Indirectly, his performances have started a wave of followers / copycats. Chris Carter has even stated that his plutonic relationship in the Moonlighters gave birth to Mulder and Scully. Without Willis, we would have no X-Files, which gave birth to the modern popularity of conspiracy theories and existence in extra terrestrials. Our fascination with these ideas were a huge driving force in the conception of similarly themed movies - i.e. Signs. Do you see Mr. Shyamalan??? Stop putting your movies in Philadelphia. I’m not sure how, but I’m fairly certain that you’re creating a rift in the space-time continuum.

Saw the film last night. Not impressed…at all. The acting really sucked, overall. Im a big Wahlberg fan. Even when the movie hes in isnt very good, he usually makes it endurable…not the case here. He was just BAD, though I think a lot had to do with the writing, but Ive seen better acting and writing in made for tv movies…in fact, The Happening probably would have worked better as a Sci Fi Channel Original movie.

Despite being Nights first R rated movie, it really wasnt nearly as violent and gory as I had expected and hoped it to be. A LOT of the violence takes place off the screen, and is implied. Generally, I find that having happen off screen (ala the self inflict gunshots in the beginning) help add suspense, and here it just seemed like a letdown, since the whole promotion is based on the R rating.

And in the end, I just felt there was no suspense in the film at all… it wasnt the premise…I think the whole invisible threat is very intriguing, but even though the characters were under constant threat…I just didnt care. The characters just werent likable enough to care about whether they lived or died, with the possible exception of John Leguizamo.

I cant say I HATED it…I certainly didnt like it. As per usual, the direction and cinematography was good…everything else, however, I found to be extremely mediocre. And yeah…I shook my head at that ending…