After reading, the mostly bad reviews, it was difficult to see this movie with an open mind. Now I know I'm going to be in a minority when I say that I quite liked it.

It starts very well. the unnerving sight of people in Central Park, New York, suddenly becoming disorientated, then going on to kill themselves, is a stunning opening sequence. This sort of inventiveness is what we've come to expect from Shyamalan. The sight of construction workers falling to their deaths, is hauntingly reminiscent of the attack on the twin towers.

The action then moves to Philadelphia, where Elliot Moore (Wahlberg) is a science teacher along with maths teacher friend Julian (Leguizamo).
They hear of the occurrences in New York, which at first are being blamed on a terrorist attack. They are informed that the attack is some sort of neuro toxin, and is spreading along the eastern seaboard. They decide to leave the city. Elliot collects his wife Alma (Moore) and Julian picks up his daughter (Sanchez), and they board a train out of the city.

The premise of the movie is pretty good, and as I said earlier it starts off fine, with plenty of scope for a summer event movie. Then it goes the way of his last two films, in that it becomes small, not giving way to the enormity of what's happening, instead sticking to the director/writers usual small scale drama of a small group of people in peril.

There is a memorable sequence when the hapless travellers come upon the home of Mrs Jones (Betty Buckley), a very odd person, the scene is reminiscent of the Tim Robbins sequence from "War of the Worlds".
I'm not sure of the validity of letting the audience know the "twist" halfway through the movie, as it tends to fizzle out from then on. However, I do like the message behind it, and find it's ecological grounding very laudible.

Not a bad film, though a long way short of "The Sixth Sense" and "Unbreakeable", but far better than "Lady in the Water" and "The Village". The performances are generally ok, apart from Deschant, who is pretty bad in her role, and for some reason has a "rabbit caught in the headlights" fixed expression throughout the proceedings.

These things aside, it's a good, well told story, with it's heart definitely in the right place.