The Invasion [Blu-ray]
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DVD Cover Information Actor: Adam Le Fevre, Daniel Craig, Nicole Kidman, Stephanie Berry, Veronica Cartwright Brand: Warner Brothers Cinematographer: Rainer Klausmann Composer: John Ottman DVD: Region Code 1 Audio: English (Original Language); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Dubbed); Spanish (Dubbed) Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen Picture Format: 1.85:1 Running Time: 99 minutes DVD Release Date: 2008-01-29 Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) Studio: Warner Home Video |
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Movie Reviews of The Invasion [Blu-ray]
Movie Review: Alien Nation
Summary: 4 Stars
There have been four film adaptations of Jack Finney's novel "The Body Snatchers." The first and most famous was Walter Wanger's "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," released in 1956 and starring Kevin McCarthy. This was followed by Philip Kaufman's 1978 remake, after which came "Body Snatchers," a spin off film released in 1993. Clearly, this story has gotten a lot of mileage, and if future filmmakers aren't careful, it's only going to wear itself out. This is why I was nervous about the latest adaptation, "The Invasion"; I would be watching a completely unoriginal film with a predictable story. I went to the theater fully expecting to be disappointed. Then a funny thing happened--I got into it. And by the time I left, I realized that I actually enjoyed it.
"The Invasion" is a rehash, but at the very least, it's a well-made rehash. This is a taut, suspenseful, creepy science fiction thriller that can put the audience in an uncomfortable place. All versions of this story play on our fears of identity loss, namely how humanity is gradually being replaced by an alien species. This new film adds an original twist; instead of clone-producing pods, a microscopic organism invades the body like a virus and reprograms the mind. In order for the transformation to occur, the infected person must fall asleep. The film opens with Carol Bennell (Nicole Kidman) in a trashed pharmacy. Dazed, frightened, and losing control, she searches for medications to keep her awake. Why this is happening, we don't yet know. All we do know is that, as she does this, something is trying to force its way through a locked door.
The film then flashes back to the events leading up to this scene. The invasion begins when a space shuttle breaks apart when reentering the atmosphere. Dozens of pieces land in various parts of the United States. As would be expected, many curious spectators try to take a small piece for themselves. What they don't know is that the hull of the shuttle is contaminated with some kind of organism; not long after the crash, people start to behave strangely, something that can only be attributed to a new strain of the flu. And it's rapidly spreading.
As all this is being established, Bennell is properly introduced as a divorced psychiatrist living in Washington, D.C. She begins to suspect something is wrong when her patient, Wendy Lenk (Veronica Cartwright, in an homage to her role in the 1978 film), confides that her husband is no longer her husband. He doesn't scream or hit, even when she does. He killed their dog. He always offers her something to drink. Such odd behavior is popping up all over the city, and pretty soon, random people stare at Bennell with blank yet horrifying expressions. Even her ex-husband, Tucker (Jeremy Northam), seems to have been affected. She rightfully feels nervous about letting her son, Oliver (Jackson Bond), stay with him, especially since he frequently wakes up screaming from fever-induced nightmares.
After a while, it becomes obvious that a full-blown pandemic has hit the nations of the world. Bennell seeks the help of Ben Driscoll (Daniel Craig) and Stephen Galeano (Jeffrey Wright), two doctors who might be able to isolate and define the virus. As they try to do their research, the infected are continuing to spread the alien virus, both by setting up phony inoculation centers and by vomiting on their victims. At this point, Bennell focuses solely on finding her son, who remains stuck with his transformed father. She knows Oliver is in terrible danger. What she has yet to discover is that, because of a childhood disease, Oliver may be the key to eradicating the alien virus.
In the midst of all this tension, the film takes an interesting turn by forcing us to question the true nature of the virus: Could it, in fact, be offering humanity the promise of peace? Is it worth losing our individuality if it means an end to war, violence, and hate? I have to admit; it sounds pretty tempting, considering the age we live in. The filmmakers seemed well aware of this, as seen during a news report announcing a peace agreement between North Korea and Iran. A welcome turn of events, no question. But at what cost? At one point, Bennell and a Russian diplomat engage in a very thought provoking conversation about the nature of humanity; history has shown that humans are aggressive in nature, and to lose that aggression is to lose all that is human. It isn't my place to agree or disagree with this line of reasoning. I will say that, if the diplomat is right, then we have some serious work to do.
The film's major weakness is its final thirty minutes, which was reportedly rewritten by the Wachowski Brothers and re-shot by director James McTeigue. Indeed, moments of "The Invasion" do seem tacked on and awkward, such as a couple of car chase sequences. Nonetheless, I was taken by the general direction of the story, and I give a lot of praise to credited director Oliver Hirschbiegel for crafting some genuinely frightening moments. In general, I liked this movie. Why, I'm not entirely sure; I'm usually the first to criticize a film for being unoriginal. But this time, I didn't really care.