If nothing else, M. Night Shyamalan has a reputation.

Good or bad? Depends on who you ask. And he’s about to come out with his latest project, The Happening. Its original title - The Green Effect - is a little more indicative of its environmental themes.

Apparently, The Happening portrays what Al Gore has been warning us about for ages. The story revolves around plants suddenly producing neurotoxins that drive people crazy, and make them kill themselves. It sounds like it could be an interesting exploration of our blind dependence on various facets of life, overlooking the fact that Shyamalan borrowed the plot from a 1984 Swamp Thing comic. Actually, I think The Happening would benefit from the Floronic Man slicing people up with a chainsaw. Get it? Because we do that to trees. Very clever!

Ever since The Sixth Sense, people are expecting a twist from Shyamalan. Signs didn’t really have much of one, and The Village had one that made a lot of people angry. Will The Happening take a direction we don’t expect? Probably. Will it be good? That’s a matter of opinion.

Starring Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel, The Happening will open later this year to a cautiously optimistic audience. Love him or hate him, Shyamalan always manages to catch attention. Bide your time until this natural disaster by playing some M. Night Shyamalan trivia.

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