This is your last chance, Mr. Shyamalan

It was another hot day yesterday and I didn't feel like rushing home to a stuffy apartment after work, so I went to the local picture show. I had seen previews for the new M. Night Shyamalan movie, The Happening. It looked good, but I was worried. I loved Shyamalan's The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable, but I haven't enjoyed his movies since: Signs, The Village, and The Lady in the Water. But there wasn't much else playing in the theatre that I wanted to see, so I thought I would give Shyamalan another try.

I enjoyed The Happening. It's not a typical apocalyptic film. The apocalyptic event is never clearly explained, as no one really knows what is happening, even after the event has passed. The audience takes the journey along with the characters in trying to understand what is happening. Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel play their roles very well.

What I also thought differentiated this film is the use of the landscape. In many apocalyptic films, the countryside is seen as a place of refuge, a place to escape to during times of crisis and panic. However, in The Happening, this is not the case. The countryside is just as dangerous as the city.

I think Shyamalan has made a very good, thought-provoking movie here. He has a great sense of mystery, suspense, and tension. I think what made the movie work was the unknown - and why I didn't like Signs and The Lady and the Water (it would have been scarier not seeing the aliens and creatures). The film is not going to clean up at the box office this summer, but I think Shyamalan puts forth a strong environmental message. I've often wondered if we're living on a doomed planet. Can the damage we've done already be reversed? In order to protect itself, will nature eventually turn on us?