A quality effort.

Rating: 7/10 (12 June 2008)

At the whim of a friend I went in to seeing "The Happening" knowing absolutely nothing about it. No preview. No reviews. All I knew was that Marky Mark was in it (whom I love) and M. Night Shyamalan directed it. I have steered clear of Shyamalan's work since Unbreakable despite the fact that there is a lot about him I like including his Hitchcockian pretensions, and his leanings towards suspense and horror. However, his films following The Sixth Sense appear to lack the intensity and intelligence of his brilliant debut.
Whilst "The Happening" is far from perfect it is a minor return to form, with its clever story and classy direction. The plot is extremely ambitious with a villain that is largely unseen and unknown. However the tension is well maintained throughout and there are a number of genuinely creepy moments. Shyamalan struggles to keep the plot moving at some points opting out for cheap news stories as plot exposition rather than using the characters to advance the story.
The film is terribly cast with Wahlberg and Leguizamo playing science and math teachers respectively. However, Wahlberg in particular settles more and more into the role as the movie unravels.
Interestingly, Shyamalan doesn't offer his regular brand of shock twist endings here, opting to leave a lot unexplained. This was both refreshing and annoying as it meant we were spared a lackluster ending but were left with one that seemed somewhat empty.
Overall, an intense if not flawed thriller on par with Frank Darabont's "The Mist".