The Invasion (2007) Movie Review, Trailer, Film Still and Poster

USA 2007
Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel
Cast: Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Jeremy Northam, Jackson Bond, Jeffrey Wright, Veronica Cartwright
Rating: PG-13
Release Date: 17 August 2007; 29 August 2007 (Indo)
Running Time: 1 hour 39 minutes

The Movie Review

The Invasion film still 1


The INVASION
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A remake is bound to be scolded, mocked and panned I guess... But most unfortunately, it also somehow bound to be prejudiced. When it was released, The Invasion fared nicely in cinemas as the studio was not empty and seemingly enjoyed by non-fans of the original work. The truth is The Invasion is a great sci-fi feature by its own accord and it's even better in some parts compared to the original.

The people of United States are shocked and sad to know a space shuttle has crash landed leaving no surviving astronauts. But amidst the grieve, people also notice something unusual with the presence of CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) investigating the site which apparently carries some sort of moss or fungi. Dr. Tucker Kaufman (Jeremy Northam) is in charge of solving the potential threat of the alien entity. Meanwhile his ex-wife, Dr. Carol Bennell (Nicole Kidman) the psychiatrist, is living her daily happy life with boyfriend Ben Driscoll (Daniel Craig) and a son named Oliver (Jackson Bond). But on this Halloween Week, a long-time patient of Dr. Carol, Wendy Lenk (Veronica Cartwright) expresses concerns over her marriage life. She claims her husband is not her husband anymore, and there's something very creepily emotionless about her loved one.

Amidst the hectic life, Dr. Carol Bennell instantly dismisses any further suspicion and simply prescribe Wendy or her other patients some pills to calm them down. But as day after day passes by, Carol begins to notice increasingly amount of people who she knows begin to behave differently and even emotionally-indifferent to any kind of situation or relationship. Carol and Ben are aware now there is something definitely wrong with their relatives and neighbours. But what is? And what will happen to them?

The Invasion is the 4th work based on Jack Finney's novel. The first ever was produced in 1956, still black and white, titled Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956). The second one was in the late 70s and titled the same, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978). The third features Forest Whitaker and Gabrielle Anwar titled Body Snatchers (1993). The fourth is this movie here, The Invasion (2007). And the fifth one is a corny B-movie produced by The Asylum (master of mockbusters) titled Invasion of the Pod People (2007).

Every movie has its own upsides and downsides. And to fiery mocking The Invasion with such fanatical gusto is probably a bit too much (lebay deh loe). Because it's not like the story was re-reproduced twice a year, it had been 14 years since 1993, so it's more than normal to see a remake came up. Besides, The Invasion is a thrilling mystery for non-fans and they will be "haunted" by the disturbing premise. Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig don't have any chemistry and Nicole Kidman's acting is even rather mixed bag and Daniel Craig's action capacity is marginalized. The cameo roles are noteworthy though, Veronica Cartwright from the 1978 is back in a different role and Roger Rees (as Yorish) is splendid in his dialogue-fencing with Nicole Kidman. Interestingly both Roger Rees and Gabrielle Anwar are from If Looks Could Kill (1991). Probably my only true personal complain, is the use of CGI. I fancy better something so grotesquely-memorable concerning the "Pod Transformation" as graphically depicted in the 1978 and 1993 version.

The Invasion is very 2000s! In a sense that it'll maybe accepted better by all moviegoers for several important traits. It is colored (unlike the 1956), it delivers more scientific explanations (unlike 1978), it's done more properly (unlike 1993), and it's not about naked women (unlike 2007 Pod People) --with the exception of Nicole Kidman see-thru pyjamas--. The Invasion is fast-paced and practically every scene counts to the progress of the story. The thrill of the chase, of the widespread panic and of the loss of trust are all felt more believable in this movie considering it's done with bigger budget and involve much wider scale of Terror-Territory. And highly likely the intensity of the situation of the imminent "doomsday" would be felt more strongly in The Invasion because it gives us stark comparison of how the neighborhood used to be like with all the peacefulness in the early scenes and then they change into something eerie and uneasy in the later scenes.

> If you fancy the lighter side of Invasion: Evolution (2001) and Alien Trespass (2009) or check this out for a deeply engaging film from Croatia (Yugoslavia), The Rat Savior AKA Izbavitelj (1976).

> her husband is not her husband anymore!: The Stepford Wives (1975) and its remake which also features Nicole Kidman The Stepford Wives (2004).

© iwan pranowo of Movielogy.com
Twitter: @movielogy
posted: Friday, 14 October 2011 11:10 am