Movie Review - “The Invasion”
** STARS
“Invasion of the Body Snatchers” from the 1970’s is one of the best horror/sci-fi movies ever. The new loose re-make starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig titled “The Invasion”, is just a glorified made for television movie with some great acting in it. Mind you, Nicole Kidman has never looked so good on screen. She has an intense genuine acting style in this film, but the flimsy plot and terrible ending leave me not able to recommend this movie.
The movie has a great beginning that doesn’t waste time with the alien invasion. The creepy zombie like nature of people infected by the alien organism is still haunting, but it is not executed as well as the brilliant 70’s version. In that film the plot unfolded at a much slower pace, allowing the viewer to get caught up in the realization that people are slowly turning. This movie has a choppy editing style that makes the actual “invasion” seem unclear and all over the map.
Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig have great screen chemistry, but they aren’t allowed enough choice dialog for fans to feel satisfied. In the end this movie didn’t use all of the unique opportunities it was given. This movie had very little action scenes and any genuine scares, which is curious for a movie labeled an “action/thriller”. There really wasn’t a creepy image or gross out scene in sight.
It has been much publicized that the “Matrix” creators The Wachowski Brothers were called in to do some last minute scene doctoring and editing on “The Invasion”. Even their creative touch couldn’t save this schizophrenic mess. I give this movie a mild review for the acting and much loved premise, but that as you can see, that wasn’t even enough for me to enjoy this film thoroughly.
August 22nd, 2007 at 8:50 pm
I have to agree, this is one that will have to wait for DVD selection if ever. Though I do want to see how well Nicole Kidman did.