Is this supposed to be a parody?

Rating: 2/10 (22 June 2008)

I'm not a fan of M. Night Shyamalan but somehow I've seen most of his movies in the theater. Don't ask why. Frankly, I don't know myself. I can't say I like any of his movies (yes, even the Sixth Sense). But there's something about them that works on some level. Again, don't ask me on what level that is. I don't know. Maybe it's the tension or the editing. But I have a hunch that the reason I keep watching Shyamalan's movies is because the audacity of this man must be seen to believe.
There are a lot of things Shyamalan does well technically. Writing isn't one of them. It seems like in most of his movies the cinematography and camera direction are pretty good, but how can you even begin to discuss those aspects when the movie's structural flaws are so glaringly obvious? Any discussion of this movie must begin with the weaknesses of the script and the knee-slapping hilarity of the premise. Have you ever see that episode of South Park where the townspeople are running away from global warming, which is literally chasing them down the street? Well, imagine a serious version of that. And no, The Day After Tomorrow doesn't count as serious.
I think Shyamalan could quite possibly be the worst person in the world at writing exposition. Just count how many newsbeats are in this movie. Whenever something needs to be conveyed about the plot, Mark Wahlburg stumbles across a television or a radio. I had my head in my hands every time John Leguizamo mentioned a statistic or whenever Wahlburg spouted some half-baked analysis of the Airborne Toxic Event (to borrow a phrase from Don Delillo) that's supposed to pass for science-speak. The most cringe-inducing dialogue, however, occurs when Wahlburg talks to the trees. I'm pretty sure it happens a few times. He gets this ominous look in his eyes and starts thinking out loud. And if those are the thoughts he finds suitable enough to speak, then I don't want to hear the rest.
I definitely wouldn't want to recommend this title to anyone, but it really is so bad that it needs to be seen to believe. No one could ever do the badness of this film justice in a review. Every film student should see this movie. They should have classes on this movie so that aspiring filmmakers know what not to do. I never thought it was possible for a single movie to get so much wrong.
This one's a must-see for lovers of all things unintentionally bad.