I've missed plenty of messages before, I'm sure of it, but that don't matter to me. Just because the Happening has a message about taking care of the Earth or it will take care of us, does not in fact make the movie viewable, or likable just cuz.
Same thing with a Tarantino movie not having a message, but being pure perfection for 2 hours, polar opposites, but having a message over having substance is not what I would be signing up for.
You can have a movie be smart, and deep, and make you think, but where does it say that having that message means making damn good actors look like scrubs off the street on their first day? Or tremendously poor dialogue like "I can hear the wind thru the phone"
Have a message, and want to send it, fine, I'm happy to listen, but don't destroy all other parts of the movie to do so.
District 9 however, was awesome. I don't think many around here complain about that movie. Unbreakable is tremendous, Sixth Sense was good, Signs was really good til the final 5 minutes or so. I was with M Night right up to that point, and then something happened. He ran out of ideas, lost his mind, is a body snatch victim with a stupid clone, I don't know, but his first 3 movies belong up there with anybody's first 3. The happening, and it's scary air message can go ----> thatta way.
Will has been discussed in here plenty, he and his agent sat down, and figured out what = money at the box office. The answer was sci-fi and Will went with it. ID4, MIB, IRobot, ILegend, Hancock, After Earth, etc etc. He did Ali, and 6 Degrees of Separation as his "serious work" did Pursuit because it was for his son (still tremendous tho) and things like Hitch cuz he got to be Will and make out with Eva Mendes, never a bad thing. Bad Boys was pre epiphany Will, and the sequel was built in money maker, audience, Bay, etc action flick. Everything Will does is for a simple reason, box office receipts. He has no interest in being interesting, or winning awards, any of that. He wants to be Will, and get paid. He's the opposite of Leo. Leo wants to do WORK.