MOVIE REVIEW: The Invasion (2007)

The irony is not lost on me that in a film where the characters are warned at every turn not to fall asleep or risk becoming a “body-snatched” alien I dozed off. But it was only for a moment, really.

So, The Invasion, the latest Hollywood re-imagining of a classic horror film. I have no problem with remakes if they show at least a spark of creativity or inspiration - unfortunately very few do. And this Nicole Kidman/Daniel Craig thriller, compared to the 1956 original, has about as much personality as the dead-faced creatures that inhabit it.

Rather than show up in the form of pods, the alien organism in The Invasion is much more subtle. It’s tiny, looks like clear latex, and is therefore unnoticed when it hitches a ride aboard a fictional NASA space shuttle (The Patriot). Presumably after infecting the crew the shuttle burns up on reentry into the Earth’s atmosphere (shades of the 2003 Columbia disaster here, which I found distasteful). The crew perishes, the heat-resistant alien life form does not.

And so it begins. The organism transmits itself to humans through the blood stream and then transforms them overnight as they enter deep sleep. When they wake up in the morning they look the same, but they’re not. The mysterious virus, as it begins to spread across the globe, is explained by politicians and the media as just that – a virus.

Kidman plays DC psychiatrist Dr. Carol Bennell, who finds the alien goo clinging to her son’s hand and has her friend Dr. Ben Driscoll (Craig) check it out at his lab. Upon discovering that the infection has extraterrestrial origins, Bennell high-tails it to her ex-husband’s (Jeremy Northam), whom she realizes has been infected, to rescue her son before he becomes the next victim.

Nicole Kidman trying to stay awake in The Invasion

Directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel (Downfall), The Invasion has a solid cast including Veronica Cartwright, Roger Rees and the under-utilized Jeffrey Wright, but they’re given little to work with script- or plot-wise. Kidman’s performance seems stilted at times and Craig’s character is just plain dull (Is he an alien or isn’t he? Hard to tell given his lack of colour.), with a terrible haircut to boot.

Studio heads enlisted the Wachowski brothers (The Matrix, V for Vendetta) to come in and do some last-minute rewrites but to be honest I can't see what if anything they added. Throughout the film I found myself reminded of better thrillers. Certain scenes recalled the fantastic zombie flick 28 Days Later and the lesser but still compelling Dawn of the Dead remake with Sarah Polley, while the ‘don’t fall asleep’ element brought to mind the original A Nightmare on Elm Street.

Then there was the thoroughly groan-worthy moral debate thrown in – the idea that humans are inherently violent and capable of terrible things, and maybe it’d be better for the planet if we were all one race and had no reason to fight with each other. Ugh. Save it for the UN, guys.

The original Invasion of the Body Snatchers may have been limited, effects-wise, by what it could do given when it was made. But I still remember being genuinely frightened by those bursting pods. And as remakes go the Donald Sutherland version in 1978 had its gripping moments and is a far more entertaining film. The only thing remotely scary in 2007’s The Invasion is Kidman’s driving.

Review by Cate Jones

Agree? Disagree? Email Cate at criticizecate@gmail.com

The Invasion (* out of 5)
Rating: PG-13 (14A in Canada)
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig
Directed by: Oliver Hirschbiegel
Written by: Dave Kajganich, based on Jack Finney’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Related links: Official site, IMDB page, Apple trailer

Comments

[Brian McKechnie]

It looks like crap! Does it even deserve one star?

-Brian

[henry]

it wasnt that bad, quite amusing in parts, but worth watching