The Happening Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		1.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		2.0

The Happening Blu-ray Movie Review

Shyamalan fades into the Night with 'The Happening.'

Reviewed by Martin Liebman October 22, 2008

Let's hear some theories why this may be happening.

M. Night Shyamalan is on the precipice of becoming irrelevant in Hollywood. His next project better be something as good as The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, or Signs, because if it's another film as woeful as The Happening, he'll become a footnote in cinema history, a director with brilliant vision and amazing filmmaking techniques that fizzled out far too soon. In his first three major studio films, Shyamalan showed the potential to be the next Alfred Hitchcock or Stanely Kubrick, a master of suspense, a filmmaker with a once-in-a-generation eye for unparalleled visuals, perfect pacing, and first-rate scriptwriting. He's been in a steady decline since Signs, but appears to have hit rock-bottom with The Happening. It's truly a shame, because the basic idea for a fine film is here, but the execution and the resolution leave plenty to be desired. How a filmmaker of his caliber could create such an inept film is the true mystery behind The Happening, and moviegoers can only hope this film, and not the filmmaker, is what will be remembered as the footnote to history.

Mark Wahlberg seems shocked to discover that the plastic plant offered the strongest performance in 'The Happening.'

It happens on a normal New York day. People stroll through central park, construction workers create the next center of commerce, and they all decide that today is a good day to die. A woman stabs herself in the neck. Construction workers leap to their deaths. A city, a nation, panics, and the fear spreads to Philadelphia where high school science teacher Elliot Moore (Mark Wahlberg, We Own the Night) is taken out of class and told there is an "event" in New York City. School is let out, and Mark, his wife Alma (Zooey Deschanel, Elf), his colleague Julian (John Leguizamo, Land of the Dead), and Julian's daughter Jess (Ashlyn Sanchez) board a train headed west, away from the dangers happening on the East coast. The train comes to a halt in Filbert, Pennsylvania, having lost communications with, well, everyone. Julian separates from the group to head to Princeton to find his wife, leaving his daughter with Elliot and Alma. As they traverse the countryside on foot, Elliot does all he can to understand what is happening -- and keep as many people alive as possible.

The Happening is one of those movies that has so much wrong with it that there is no one good place to begin or end the conversation. The story offers an intriguing premise, an unknown something that drives people to instant suicide. After that, the film falls apart in every regard. The most obvious problem with the film is the terrible acting, some of the worst in recent memory from name actors in a big-budget studio film. John Leguizamo is no better than tolerable, Zooey Deschanel is laughable, and Mark Wahlberg...talks to plants! His performance is the most puzzling. A solid, reliable actor as evidenced by his work in films like Shooter, Invincible, and Three Kings, Wahlberg seems to be in some sort of trance in this film, or is perhaps the victim of a Like Father Like Son or Vice Versa switcharoo, because he puts on a performance one might expect of an 8-year-old, more amazed to actually be in the movie rather than acting seriously. Of course, when the script he has to work with calls for him to talk to a plastic plant as if it were a child throwing a temper tantrum, or literally run from the wind, who can blame him for phoning it in?

The Happening offers no drama, no sense of urgency, no sense of wonder, all qualities that audiences have come to expect from an M. Night Shyamalan film, and certainly qualities that should be evident in a film with a premise such as this one. The Happening poses a great idea -- but it is the way the idea is expanded upon, explained, and resolved that proves most disappointing. With a poor script comes uncharacteristically bland direction from the generally even-handed Shyamalan. Various scenes that try to convey the panic and pandemonium of the events occurring in the film fizzle with alarming regularity. An early scene in the film, on a train heading west from Philadelphia, comes off as a nearly incoherent jumble of images, dialogue, and sound. The interplay between the characters is somewhat confused, and various plot points either make no sense at all, or the characters that inhabit the world of The Happening are simply stupid. Take a scene where Elliot and what remains of his group attempt to find food and shelter in a boarded-up house. The people inside refuse to let them in for fear of the airborne agents entering the home, yet they leave gaps in the boards large enough for a rifle barrel to reach out and touch someone, literally. It's not just the small details like this one, but the entire arc of the film that is offensive to even semi-intelligent audiences. Even Shaymalan, known for his cameo appearance in his films, and above-average acting in his roles, supposedly appears as nothing more than a name of a character discussed in the film. Luckily for theater owners, there was no target on the screen at which angry audiences could throw their rotten fruit.

The Happening Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Happening blows onto Blu-ray with a 1080p, 1.85:1-framed transfer. The transfer seems slightly dull, but it retains solid detail and color reproduction. The classroom scene near the beginning of the film, where audiences first meet Elliot, offers excellent depth and mostly true-to-life imagery. It looks ever so slightly pale and diluted, which was a running visual theme throughout the movie. Facial detail is impressive in close-ups of the actors, revealing that actors are indeed human, at least in 1080p. The film does offer fairly good theatrical presence, offering somewhat deep imagery that never jumps off the screen, but manages to retain a cinematic look nevertheless, particularly because of the natural film grain that the image retains throughout. Various outdoor scenes appear natural in detail, texture, and color. Definition is not incredible, but fields of blowing grass, for example, never look smeared of poorly rendered. Flesh tones appear somewhat ghastly, no doubt thanks to the film's aforementioned pale shading. The Happening offers viewers fairly good high definition material. Eye candy this is not, but more than adequate this is.

The Happening Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Featuring a DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack, The Happening's audio presentation offers somewhat mixed results, but the positives outweigh the negatives. The score heard over the opening credits offers a fulfilling presence, but it doesn't approach the level of "the orchestra in the living room" sensation quite like that available from the very best lossless soundtracks. The bustling Central Park shot that follows features plenty of speaker-testing activity from every side. A brisk wind, footsteps, and dialogue combine to immerse the viewer in the packed New York landmark. The city scape that follows comes alive with police cars rushing to a scene, but the entire soundtrack, from effects to dialogue -- and despite plenty of activity from the rear channels -- feels over-exaggerated and unnatural. The score thumps and rattles on occasion, delivering powerful lows that perturb the room. A heavy blowing wind in chapter 12 slowly gains momentum as it increases in intensity and soon engulfs the entire soundstage with a heavy-handed bass presence. Dialogue reproduction is fine as expected, but the soundtrack as a whole feels and sounds forced rather than natural and graceful.

The Happening Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Happening offers up plenty of extras to satiate any desire one may have to get more in-depth with M. Night Shyamalan's latest film. Bonusview with Trivia Track is a Blu-ray profile 1.1 feature that, when activated, provides viewers with not only a standard pop-up trivia track, but also showcases various behind-the-scenes footage. As the film begins, Shyamalan discusses the similarities to the opening of his film and that of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. After a trivia fact, the discussion turns to the film's title, including a humorous tale regarding his Indian Uncle as he tries to help Night choose the title. The back-and-forth goes on for the length of the film, and Shyamalan nonchalantly discusses the film, merrily going on as if nothing was wrong with it. These features are also available separately for Blu-ray owners without Profile 1.1 equipped players.

Train Shooting (1080p, 4:15) features several cast and crew members discussing the scene, the shooting location, and the actual shoot. The Hard Cut (1080p, 9:02) is a look at the film's violence and the contrast between this and Shyamalan's other films, including an extensive look at one particular sequence. Forces Unseen (1080p, 4:40) is an examination of the film's unconventional enemy and the process of creating some of the its visuals. "I Hear You Whispering" (1080p, 4:18) focuses on the character named Mrs. Jones (Betty Buckley) and her role in the film. Next in line is a basic gag reel (1080p, 2:39), followed by four deleted and extended scenes (1080p) with optional introductions by M. Night Shyamalan (480p). The Happening -- Visions of 'The Happening:' A Making Of (1080p, 11:54) features additional background on the original ideas for the film. Shyamalan discusses his initial inspiration to make the ultimate B-movie, but one that morphed into something deeper. The piece dwells on the same scenes that The Hard Cut focused on. The cast and crew discuss the character motivations, the mood of the film, shooting in and around Philadelphia, and more. A Day For Night (1080p, 6:46) is an interesting, candid look at how the director operates during a typical day during principal photography. Elements of a Scene (1080p, 10:03) is a feature that examines some of the story boarding and Pre-Viz sequences for the film, and moves onto the physical creation of the scene for the film. Finally, this disc is D-Box enabled for those with the appropriate gear.

Disc two of this set contains a digital copy of the film for playback on computers and select portable video devices, including the Apple iPod Touch. Viewing select scenes on a 2nd generation iPod Touch, the film seems to offer a decent picture quality but retains the somewhat pale look of the Blu-ray disc. Nevertheless, this is perhaps the highest quality digital copy of a film yet. The many bright outdoor sequences look fine with little in the way of problem areas, though blocking, pixelation, and other annoyances creep in occasionally. The sound is uninspired, even over the iPod's headphones. Dialogue is tinny, effects sound artificial, and the experience is perhaps akin to hearing the track through a telephone. The experience is par for the course, and is watchable in a pinch if the only choices are digital copies of The Happening or The Love Guru.

The Happening Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Anyone interested in watching The Happening should simply download the trailer and enjoy. It makes the movie look far better than it is, but the one drawback is that it makes one actually want to see the finished product. Unfortunately, the actual 90 minute film is simply terrible, laughable to general audiences, and a heartbreaker for longtime Shyamalan fans. With poor acting, a story that goes nowhere, and uneven-at-best direction, The Happening goes down as one of the most disappointing films of the decade. 20th Century Fox's Blu-ray edition of The Happening is superior to the film it contains. Featuring acceptable video and audio, as well as a nice selection of bonus materials, the film's three or four fans should be pleased. This disc is a rental for the bravest of the cinematic curious.