The Invasion(2007): Not Quite As Invasive As You Might Expect
Written: Aug 18 '07 (Updated Aug 18 '07)
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Product Rating:
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| Bang For The Buck |
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Pros: Kidman and her fellow actors.
Cons: Plot & script.
The Bottom Line: Average sc-fi but great acting by Nicole, who does a great job every time anyway, which is why she gets the salaries she does.
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| Ed.Williamson's Full Review: The Invasion |
The best thing about The Invasion is the acting of Nicole Kidman, followed by that of Daniel Craig, followed by that of Jackson Boyd as the boy Oliver. Beyond that there is nothing really all that noteworthy about the film.
It has nothing of the intensity of the original Invasion of The Body Snatchers (1956 and 1978), of which this is supposed to be a clone. The plot is really a sort of conglomeration of two strands: (a) a warmed-over zombie movie, and (b) a return to the maternal protection theme much better scripted in Jodie Foster’s 2005 film Flightplan. This is relatively interesting science fiction, but sort of C-class in relation to the Good Stuff.
Here’s the plot, in a nutshell: A space shuttle weirdly leaves orbit and disintegrates on re-entry. In this part of the film I was immediately distracted and somewhat angered because the moviemakers obviously and unabashedly used real footage of the actual destruction of the Space Shuttle Challenger, and I think that was in pretty poor taste. But, my respect for those heroic astronauts aside, that is the start of it. The strewn-out wreckage is contaminated by an unknown substance which has survived the re-entry. Turns out that the unknown substance contains a disease that starts spreading among humans. Dr. Carol Bennell (Nicole Kidman), a Washington, D.C. psychiatrist, and her colleague Dr. Ben Driscoll (Daniel Craig) discover that REM sleep triggers the transformation in humans and robs them of their individuality, turning them into collectively connected zombie-like creatures where all is well and there is eternal peace and bliss. As the epidemic spreads, Dr. Bennell has to rescue her son Ollie (Jackson Boyd) in the streets and buildings of cities, while those caught up in the epidemic try to convert her into one of them. Fighting to keep from going to sleep, Carol searches for her son and then tries to reunite with her love interest, Dr. Driscoll. I won’t tell you the ending, because you’ve probably guessed it by now.
The fact that Kidman and Craig take all of this seriously and have pretty good chemistry with each other keeps this one afloat, if not moving along swimmingly. Their commitment to the movie and their ability to make us care for them is pretty contagious. It will especially affect women, and women who are maternal, just as “Flightplan” did.
But the story may be pretty ho-hum for the rest of us.
As a matter of fact, some of it is downright silly. The car chase scenes are nowhere near as good as in Craig’s Casino Royale, let alone a work like (playing-in-theaters-now) The Bourne Ultimatum. Answers to complex problems are summed up in 3-seconds-worth of Oh-that’s-easy medical mumbo jumbo. People appear in the plot and then disappear with no development but who utter profound speeches like we are supposed to hang on their words.
In the midst of all this goofiness, however, is Kidman. This movie may have been a paycheck to her, but no one can say that Nicole does not give it her all. You have to admire the way she moves, the way she talks, and the expressions on her face as she deals with all this. It’s like she’s actually in a much better movie, and sees all that in her head, but is playing her part in this one. And, like I say, she gives it her all and does a great job.
We saw real stretches of greatness in Daniel Craig in Casino Royale, where he played his character at top speed in fourth gear. Even though he plays this well with Kidman, I still felt like he was sort of idling along in second gear. It was like Kidman was thinking, “Okay, Dan, so this isn’t Oscar-level stuff, still, let’s show them that you can still deliver the acting even in a potboiler,” and Dan was thinking, “Gee, how does Nicole put up with this strange script? She really is trying hard though, and even though I’ll be glad to get this one over, if she’s going to give it a go I guess I will too.”
In fairness, there are a lot of really bad sci-fi movies out there, and this is actually probably one of the better ones. But if the scriptwriters had worked harder on this one, it might have been a lot better. For example, they should have left out that Challenger footage at the start- what a way to deflect the interest of the audience and turn a cold shower on the enthusiasm for the movie. Then they should have told us what the alien life form was trying to do- we never know, and it is never defined. At least in the Alien series we have an idea of what is happening. And a little clarity in the relationships between the characters would have helped. I think the writers were not in sync. And it showed.
So it’s average, or maybe a little above average, because of the acting. But if the story looks familiar, maybe it’s because you see a few movies. I’m recommending this one, but mainly because of Nicole’s performance. Beyond that it’s pretty much grim cafeteria fare.
Three Stars/***
Recommended:
Yes
Movie Mood: Date Movie
Viewing Method: Other
Film Completeness: A few glitches, but mostly complete.
Worst Part of this Film: Script
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Ed.Williamson
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Member: Ed Williamson
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