The Happening Review RETRACTION

The Happening

a.k.a
The Green Effect

New Zoozameter Reading: 90%


"There is no terror in a bang, only in the anticipation of it" - Sir Alfred Hitchcock

I'm writing this retraction because some information was brought to light for me. I knew that M. Night Shyamalan did option an old version of this movie to many major movie studios but was rejected early last year. But Shyamalan shouldn't have succumbed to the "Suits", and kept true to his original idea.

The Happening [a.k.a The Green Effect] tells the story that is layered with sentimental meaning so powerful that it would be difficult to ignore. Ergo, why I'm writing this retraction.

In my eyes, the end product deserves a 6 or a 7 out of 10. But the true notion and idea behind Shyamalan's intention deserve a 10!

The Happening tells beautiful story whereby a married couple rediscover their love for each-other in a time where the world is taken by a cataclysmic event. Unlike how most people might see it, the movie is NOT about blood, guts, and gore. It is evident in how the director himself removed the more nasty and grotesque scenes [zoo keeper feeding himself to lions], which I thought was edited out here in Kuwait through the censorship department of the Ministry of Mass Communication.

The original title [The Green Effect] didn't only refer to the plants violent attack against humanity, it refered to the reconciliation between Alma and Elliot in the end. The significance of the color green was ultimately eliminated when, after not having his original script picked up, Shyamalan had rewritten the screenplay to suit what "hollywood" thought the audience wanted to see.

Those who have seen, or are planning on seeing the movie will know the answer to Alma's [Zooey] question about the mood ring "what color was love?" It is a shame that we didn't get to see the end product that was inteded by this extremely talented young writer, director, and producer. This movie, as did some of his earlier works, wil most probably be dismissed as overrated garbage.

Shyamalan, fascinated with the aspect of human nature, endeavors to expose as much as he can through the tool he knows best - film making. And I personally think that he had one hell of a script to produce, but was stripped from the chance to express his true genious cos of the "Suits".

All in all, the movie gets a 90% on the Zoozameter after careful and elaborate observation.

To read an excellent review on what Shyamalan truly had in mind, click here.