The Happening...

M. Night Shyamalan's career (and ability) appears to be in reverse...

In a nutshell, The Happening is an intriguing idea, a sinister and suitably unusual apocalyptic vision - which is delivered with about as much panache and intelligence as a good school film project.

I'm starting to wonder whether the strength, and I believe, well deserved success of The Sixth Sense, The Village, and to some degree, Unbreakable, have actually been due to the presence of a phenomenal, well suited cast. Remove these elements, and low and behold, you have the Happening.

The story is definitely an interesting one, and no one can deny that M. Night Shyamalan is a master story teller, but whether he is in fact an accomplished director and script writer is a whole other matter...

The casting is weak and the actors are poorly suited to their characters; this is potentially not their fault, as both characterisation and plot are sparse and disjointed. Add to this the fact that the dialogue is truly appalling - and I really mean this - and the film reveals itself not to be the terrifying, promising experience it's alluded to in the trailer, (and first twenty minutes of the movie) instead ending up nothing more than an embarrassed, spotty kid in a cupboard, sheet over head, shouting BOO.

Almost comical in places, and oddly wrapped up, this strange little number is worth a visit just to experience a new plot idea, but not much else.