When I first saw The Sixth Sense, I was floored at the end at the surprise twist. I simply did not see it coming- some people did, most did not. I went back and watched that film in theatres a couple more times, looking at all the foreshadowing that M Night did. It impressed me, I thoroughly enjoyed that entire movie experience, and thought that he did a fantastic job at presenting the movie to the audience. I became a big fan of him, after just one film.
Since then, I have seen every one of his film's except for Unbreakable. I feel that the quality of his films have degressed, rather than impressed. Each movie becomes a lower quality work than the previous, and has left me disappointed each time. However, I still go to see them because some small part of me wants that same reaction and involvement I had with The Sixth Sense... hoping for all this foreshadowing in front of me, doing a great job of being secretive, and then exploding with a plot twist at the end that leaves me wanting more. I continually was disappointed, but never gave up hope.
And then I saw The Happening today.
First thing- I thought that the movie was going to be poor. They kept on stating in the promos that this was his first R rated movie, as if that is supposed to draw the masses. Whenever you are banking public personna on your movie rating (instead of, I dunno, quality of theme and idea... actors... suspense.... dialogue... etc), and that is really the only thing that you get from it- that is never a good thing. So I went in with lowered expectations than usual. I went to IMDB, I believe they had it at 6.3 or so- not that bad, but definitely not good. So I went in hoping for something decent, be entertained, and still clinging to this love affair with a Sixth Sense-like plot twist at the end.
I have only fallen asleep once during a movie- Batman and Robin (the one with Arnold and Carrey). I have only brought out my phone and played Tetris during a movie once due to sheer boredom- Epic Movie (still don't know what possessed me to see that). If it was not for the five high school kids behind me making noise throughout this movie, then The Happening would have featured both me sleeping and doing something on my phone.
Yes. It was that horrific. It was embarassingly painful to watch, it was one of the most boring films I have ever seen, and when the movie was over I went to the ticket stand and asked for a refund. The movie theatre, unfortunately, did not grant that.
I am no longer a fan of M Night. This movie is a complete flop, an utter disaster, and a waste of 100 minutes of my life. I urge all who have the slightest inclination to see this movie to just grab an ice pick and stab at your eyeballs- the pain won't be as severe...
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