Is M. Night really going downhill?

Rating: 10/10 (23 July 2010)

In light of Inception, I have been thinking a lot about movies. Friends and reviews for Inception have all said that it was a genius movie that left your mind blown, and the only way to pick up the pieces is to watch the movie again. Maybe I watched the wrong movie, but there was really no depth to the story, or pieces that needed to be glued together to understand it. The Happening, on the other hand, is a movie that can you watch over and over and see new pieces to the carefully crafted puzzle that M Night created.
What then is the plot for the story? Plants kill humans. I'll be the first to admit that on the outside this appears to be a lame plot, but once you really REALIZE what the story is about, it is an ingenious move on Night's part.
WHY DO THE PLANTS KILL THE HUMANS, is the question that one should ask themselves as they watch the movie. This is the whole key to understanding the superiority of the movie. For the normal movie goer (and I have asked everyone that I know that has seen it) the answer to this question is, "It's because we are bad to the environment and they're taking their revenge on us!" Is this really the case though? When has any of Night's movies been about what you see on the surface? Answer: never!
The plants kill the humans for three reasons, at least that I have found. One, a lack of love between each other (human to human. Examples of this are seen through the Zooey and Mark. It is reinforced by the old "christian" lady at the end of the movie). Two, we have become a violent people (opening scene, the newspaper reports, the video games under the television). And last, but certainly not least, we have taken God out of our lives and filled it with crap that doesn't really mean anything (the reoccurring theme of math through out the movie).
I could go more into detail about these three elements, but I have already written a novel. The great thing about this movie is that it you cannot passively watch this movie to fully understand and appreciate it. If you try to understand this movie, along with his past movies (and you don't want me to get started about lady in the water) you'll find that their is a writer/director out there that has the skill of a experienced craftsman to, not only entertain you, but present material to you that will ultimately inspire and change your life!
This movie is not a cheap thriller like inception that makes you think, "am I dreaming? This movie makes you ponder your life and what you have done to other people, and if there is something greater and better to do. I take my hat off to Mr. Shyamalan and hope that he continues to do the movies as he does.