If you head over to Metacritic, you’ll get a good idea of what the nation’s top critics are saying about M. Night Shyamalan’s latest mystery thriller “The Happening.” But what are the blogs and other movie Web sites saying about the film? We’ll be posting our “The Happening” review shortly. In the meantime, check out what the others are saying and feel free to share your thoughts below. WARNING: Some of these reviews contain spoilers.
• Cinematical’s James Rocchi didn’t hate the film as much as most critics, but he found some substantial flaws in Shyamalan’s story. Here’s part of what he has to say at Cinematical:
“’The Happening’ works best when Shyamalan's giving us the tricks and stunts and dares of an abominable showman; when he stops trying to make us scared and starts trying to make us feel, the movie sputters and stalls.”Read Rocchi’s entire review right here.
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• At Joblo.com, Chris Bumbray gives “The Happening” 5.5 out of 10. He says he didn’t like the film that much, although he wasn’t bored by it the whole time. Here’s an excerpt from his review over at Joblo:
“There are some incredibly shocking scenes in the film (such as a scene where a man feeds himself to some lions at a zoo), but at the same time, the gore is never so over the top that it becomes a parody of itself.”You can read Joblo’s full review right here.
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• Katey Rich over at Cinema Blend didn’t like the film either, and she found the characters to be very shallow. Here’s a short quote from her review at Cinema Blend:
“Unfortunately, it’s human language he struggles with, which unintentionally turns ‘The Happening’ into more of a campy mess than the moody disaster thriller he’s aiming for.”Click here to read Katey’s entire review.
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• Finally, let’s see what my buddy Kevin Laforest has to say about it at The Montreal Film Journal. Kevin thinks the film is one of Shyamalan’s weakest, but he didn’t hate it as much as others. Here’s part of what he thinks:
“The other reason why "The Happening" isn't on the level of Shyamalan's best is that it's just not that scary or intense. Aside from the opening, there are a few other horrifying scenes, but none are as riveting as the invasion of the farmhouse in "Signs", for instance.”Click here to read the entire review at The Montreal Film Journal.
So what do you guys think? Have you seen it already? Is it really Shyamalan’s weakest flick to date? If so, share your thoughts below, but don’t reveal too much about the film itself.