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We have all hoped that this one would be the undeniable proof that M. Night Shyamalan is not a skyrocket; one that has already reached his heights and exploded in a ball of glory that fizzles out while leaving us all blinking at the memory of its image.

All of us took well-deserved notice when "The Sixth Sense" came out and stunned us with its originality and the quality of its production. Closely followed by "Unbreakable" and "Signs", it looked as if Mr. Shyamalan was the next incarnation of Hitchcock-He could do no wrong

Then "The Village", although original and with a snappy surprise ending, failed to live up to the predicted expectations of those of us who eagerly awaited his next step. And, once Shyamalan and Disney split, "Lady in the Water" added to the frustrations of an audience that had become fickle from his earlier success.

Now, "The Happening" becomes the next failure that, as this reviewer scores it, leaves the ambitious young director with a .500 average at the box office. What has happened to the crisp young mind that dazzled us with "Sixth Sense" and "Signs"?

Has the well of ideas simply run dry? Is the problem that he is struggling with the need for new material in a competitive genre that has been done-to-death? Or, is M. Night Shyamalan simply gotten so full of himself, so overconfident that he thinks he can do no wrong?

This reviewer has watched this young director's work from "Sixth Sense" on and has been one of the eager-to-see-the-next fans. That Mr. Shyamalan would think that putting out a film that has little flow and movement, and attempts, time after time to force feed the audience a tension that is, frankly, not there, leaves me baffled.

Sure, the message is clear and certainly one that should be waved like a red flag: We must save the planet before it becomes too late. None of us would fail to believe that the Earth will one day, abruptly start to shut down and that those of us still standing on the surface will find ourselves keeling over from things like a severe lack of oxygen or sucked under by a violent opening of the crust. All of that is not hard to believe.

Science has proven that plants do send out chemical codes and that they can indeed repel some potential predators by this method. Why not take it a step further?

What this film fails to do is to make that simple idea a scary one! Not once during the screening of this film did this reviewer feel the tension of fear. I actually yawned in a couple of spots as the film ground down its pace as it attempted to raise the hackles of terror that just wasn't there to give rise to.

On the plus side, it was well acted. Walberg was as good as ever, with what was expected of him. He looked like Mario Andretti racing a golf-cart around, however; a good actor trying to act scared when the wind blows was, let's face it fans, a let down.

Perhaps, if M. Night had come up with some clever, sinister method of portraying the danger of indigenous plant life this film would have worked. I suppose that is the point: the fear factor was left out.

If you plan to see this one despite all else, and if like me you are an M. Night Shyamalan fan no matter what, then I would highly recommend waiting for the DVD to hit the shelves, which shouldn't take too long.

Disappointed, but still an expectant fan, this reviewer will simply have to wait for another attempt by a promising young director to rise to the challenge and scare him in an original way.

Rated R for violent and disturbing images, running time 91 minutes

Distributed by 20th Century Fox

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