The Happening fails to impress

Rating: 2/10 (12 September 2008)

The Happening should be re-named "The Not-Happening". I thought I'd give this a chance,having seen the trailer, which I did find interesting. The thing is, The Happening started out fast-ish,then amidst that action,there was some kind of annoying sub-plot(a bit like the kind of thing you might see in Friends)where Elliot's (Wahlberg) wife admits to having an affair, hiding mobile phone calls and the like. Its almost laughable that something like this should be in the script when the characters lives are in stake. There would be no room to even develop that sub-plot anyway. There's hardly any atmospheric music (I mean,Dark Knight had me on the edge of my seat,because of the music, and its by the same guy in The Happening, isn't it?) For me, it just went off the boil after the first 5 minutes. The main thing that keeps a movie rolling for me is music. If it isn't there, it will fail. Within The Happening is an interesting story that could have worked if the pace was a lot speedier. And the dialogue? Nah. Must...try....harder!!