I had heard plenty of bad reviews of "The Happening" before I went last night, but I like the post-apocalyptic theme (at least, when it's done well), so I figured what the heck.

I should have had second, and then third, thoughts.

The movie almost made it to "so bad it's funny", but it didn't quite get there, either. The audience we watched with thought it had; they laughed through the first half. To say that Shayamalan missed when he was going for terror would be the understatement of the year - he not only missed, he found a different emotional state altogether. By the time we reached the scenes that gave it the "R" rating it was overkill - I think he just wanted to act all "grown up" and be able to say that he had an "R" movie under his belt - the two grusesome scenes that got the movie there added nothing to the plot, told us nothing we didn't already know, and - in fact - detracted from the horror. An earlier scene where a bunch of people methodically died off camera was way, way more effective.

Oddly enough, the penultimate act of the movie was probably the best one, where the primary characters had managed to become separated. There was actual emotion in that scene, unlike the whole rest of the movie. Had Shayamalan known what he was doing, he would have ended the flick there - but no, he had to cut to a "3 months later" thing, where magically, the entire region affected by the event was back to normal (never mind the millions who died - the survivors just cheerfully went back to their homes!). That was pretty much the last straw for me, especially given how hard Shayamalan decided to pound us over the head with his message in that last act. If he'd been any less subtle, a brick would have flown out of the screen.

You know those warnings they give you at the beginning of the movie about what to do in the event of an emergency? Well, if you find yourself in a theater where "The Happening" is playing, ignore the warning - it's a real emergency, and you should run, not walk, for the nearest exit. You'll still have those 90 minutes I'd like to have back.