The Invasion (C or 2/4 stars)
There's plenty of body snatching in 'The Invasion', a sci-fi thriller directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel. It is the 4th screen version of Body Snatchers. A mysterious epidemic is striking the world; and it takes a Washington D.C. psychiatrist, Carol Bennell (Nicole Kidman), to unearth the origin of the extraterrestrial disease. When her son becomes infected, it's up to her, and 2 colleagues, Ben & Stephen (Daniel Craig, Jeffrey Wright) to discover that he may be the only way that the epidemic can be stopped for good. This is not a great movie. The ending is particularly poor. But it's involving enough & frightful enough for a viewing.
The mysterious crash of a space shuttle brings bacteria to Earth that catalyses in people during their sleep. Meanwhile, Carol, a divorcee, is upset that her son, Oliver (Jackson Bond) will be spending time with his father. Unbeknownst to her, Tucker has been taken over by the alien species & is hell bent on making everyone like him (emotionless shells of human beings). Before long, humans are being converted at a fast rate ... all it takes is being spat/thrown up on by someone infected, and a good night's sleep does the rest. The only way to avoid contamination is to simply stay awake; not so simple.
Realizing that the key to stopping this 'invasion' may be her own son (due to his bout with the chicken pox a year before), Carol hopes that the disease can be eradicated. But can Carol, Ben, & her son survive? Can they ride out the storm? What is the government's response/answer to all of this? After having battled to get to a quarantined area, who can Carol trust? Will the infectees ever become normal again?
I quite enjoyed the first 1/2 of this film. Politically, medicinally & existentially ... the film doesn't have much to say. But it's fairly engrossing in its early stages. Kidman isn't amazing here, but we pull for her character anyway. The production values are slick. There are enough genuinely creepy (and knee-jerk) moments to keep you on guard. i.e., a nerve-wracking subway sequence where Carol is forced to pretend she's an androit amid a sea of them. I liked the quick edits that the film offers. However, a few action sequences/car chases are offered here, and they actually kick-start the inevitable downfall of this movie.
Daniel Craig's talents are put to little use here. Jeffrey Wright is severely underused as the scientist who's investigating the epidemic. The film is too mechanical. It has elements of horror, action, political ponderings, but never truly succeeds in any of these areas. In fact, as soon as the 'action' starts 45 minutes in, the film becomes oddly dull. I said to myself, 'why is there a car chase sequence in this?' And then before we know it, the film concludes. I liked 'how' it concludes. But the build-up TO that conclusion is an abrupt, incoherent mess. This movie kind of slipped away. Still, 'The Invasion' is NOT without its own merits.
The mysterious crash of a space shuttle brings bacteria to Earth that catalyses in people during their sleep. Meanwhile, Carol, a divorcee, is upset that her son, Oliver (Jackson Bond) will be spending time with his father. Unbeknownst to her, Tucker has been taken over by the alien species & is hell bent on making everyone like him (emotionless shells of human beings). Before long, humans are being converted at a fast rate ... all it takes is being spat/thrown up on by someone infected, and a good night's sleep does the rest. The only way to avoid contamination is to simply stay awake; not so simple.
Realizing that the key to stopping this 'invasion' may be her own son (due to his bout with the chicken pox a year before), Carol hopes that the disease can be eradicated. But can Carol, Ben, & her son survive? Can they ride out the storm? What is the government's response/answer to all of this? After having battled to get to a quarantined area, who can Carol trust? Will the infectees ever become normal again?
I quite enjoyed the first 1/2 of this film. Politically, medicinally & existentially ... the film doesn't have much to say. But it's fairly engrossing in its early stages. Kidman isn't amazing here, but we pull for her character anyway. The production values are slick. There are enough genuinely creepy (and knee-jerk) moments to keep you on guard. i.e., a nerve-wracking subway sequence where Carol is forced to pretend she's an androit amid a sea of them. I liked the quick edits that the film offers. However, a few action sequences/car chases are offered here, and they actually kick-start the inevitable downfall of this movie.
Daniel Craig's talents are put to little use here. Jeffrey Wright is severely underused as the scientist who's investigating the epidemic. The film is too mechanical. It has elements of horror, action, political ponderings, but never truly succeeds in any of these areas. In fact, as soon as the 'action' starts 45 minutes in, the film becomes oddly dull. I said to myself, 'why is there a car chase sequence in this?' And then before we know it, the film concludes. I liked 'how' it concludes. But the build-up TO that conclusion is an abrupt, incoherent mess. This movie kind of slipped away. Still, 'The Invasion' is NOT without its own merits.