A return to form somewhat for Shyamalan.

Rating: 5/10 (18 June 2008)

Poor Shyamalan hasn't had a break in a long time. The novelty in his quirky scriptwriting/direction skills wore off many moons ago and his career took a direct hit with Lady in the Water. But The Happening isn't Lady in the Water. Heck, it's not even The Village, thankfully. Shyamalan has taken this movie straight back to when his films worked. But two consecutive critically panned movies later, would Shyamalan go for the home run? The trailer would have you think that.
Like Signs, we find out what's "Happening" pretty quick throughout the north-eastern U.S. as another doomsday scenario is dealt with. And continuing off of Signs, the science fiction is mostly brushed aside to deal with characters and conflict. But these batch of characters are mostly lame ducks, with Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel not at their best by a long shot. The script is questionable at best and the overall premise for drama and tension ("Run from the wind!") for the film is, again, lame. The film is not bad, but it's not great either. I think the novelty of Shyamalan films have worn off as a whole, but at least if this film is an indication, he has returned to form somewhat.