The Invasion

Hollywood destroyed everything good about this film.

There was a resounding creepiness that looms over the body snatcher remakes and the original. This film misses that on every mark. No pods... No siren screams... And the ending, well, is a slap in the face to the concept.

If your not a fan or have never seen any other versions you might think it is OK. But thats it, just OK. They screwed up one of the scariest concepts ever thought up. Permormences were OK. It had one or two bright points but overall it was crap.

Take the cgi out of war of the worlds and you have invasion... thats not a good thing.

I honestly don't think the movie is worth an 8, not in its released form. But since the cuts and additions from the suits are so painfully obvious, I'm willing to give a higher rating to the movie that could have been... and for now, only the original director Oliver something has seen.

So the original movie (which is still discernible somehow) was supposed to be a dark, slow take on isolation, pill overuse and boring modern life. With a twist: a mom so desperate to protect her child, she would silently watch other people being killed as long as she can find her kid. That's actually moving and seldom seen in a macho-dominated Hollywood. I won't say that ice cold Kidman is the right choice to depict a desperate mom, but given that her role is to often look emotionless (so she can pass as another "pod people") she doesn't do too badly.

Now, the suits didn't like that and called those soft-brained Wachowski bros to make it -supposedly- more mainstream. And what they did was to add car chases, crashes, helicopters, fires and senseless violence in general. Inserted into the original movie at close intervals to keep people amused (or so they thought). Now, there are a few good directors who can pull out a combination of slow burn and crazy action. But a patchwork movie made of two different directors' bits, guys with widely opposed instincts and goals, no wonder the result is a flop.

If anything is to be learned from this, it's how little do Hollywood executives know about what makes a good movie. Granted, a non-stop mishmash of violence and fifth-drink bar philosophy like The Matrix can earn the big bucks, but you can't expect Matrix-like bits to improve what was intended to be a slow paced, moody film. Which was probably condemned to be a box office failure, but also could have been pretty good.

Invasion!.. of the people without emotions. This is pretty much a re-telling of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" with a modern setting and look. Interesting concepts are presented, but it turns out to be your run-of-the-mill thriller entertainment with recognizable actors. Nothing bad. It just took the Hollywood direction. The suspense is great in some scenes, especially in the first half. When we get to the climax things start to become too convenient and even a little predictable. What the movie really utilize well are the main leads. The characters are like-able which is super important here because you have to care for them when they are on the run from the invaders. The antagonists are annoying in just the right way. Imagine someone you know loosing all of their emotions and becoming an outer shelf of what that person used to be. That's a pretty scary idea. The movie plays it safe. What it lacks is some extra emotional punch and we never truly get that. So, I think the filmmakers should have gone for something even riskier at the end. The impact would have been much better. We get the Hollywood finale. And I guess it works in some ways because less people will feel paranoid after watching it.

It's alright. You can put the movie on and be entertained by the suspense and seeing Nicole Kidman be chased by weird stale people. The look of the picture is pretty nice. The blue-ish color tint fits the movie well. You should probably stick to the original "Body Snatchers", but if you wanna go for something that's easier to process then check this one out.

I admit that I was hesitant about seeing "The Invasion" after reading some poor reviews and coming to this message board. I also was leery after learning that part of it was re-shot by different directors which is usually a very bad sign. Plus the fact that they give Kidman a kid in this film had me leery for I often grow weary of female leads in suspense/action/horror films having to protect children instead of other adults like male leads do especially if the kids are annoying.

So, I almost didn't see "The Invasion" after reading and hearing all of the complaints about no plot, no real character development, bad acting and poor directing/editing.

Yet, I finally agreed to just go with my gut and take a chance on a matinée show of "The Invasion." Boy, am I glad that I did, not only because I did not have to pay the outrageous full price of ten bucks but I actually liked this film.

Despite what some are saying this film does have a plot. People are actually doing things that lead to other plot points like the whole deal with Veronica Cartwright's character and Kidman's character leaving her son with the ex-husband. These two story lines lead to important discoveries and actions that happen later on in the film.

Also, there is character development. Kidman's character does develop because she's forced to change in order to survive and to protect herself and her son. The warm relationship between Kidman's character and her son and Ben also is established.

So beyond these relationships do we really need to dwell on the other characters for too long? After all this is a plot driven movie not a character driven movie. Besides, if they had taken time to thoroughly get into everyone else's back story people would be whining about the movie being too long. But I digress.

Also, I thought that all of the actors did a good job especially Kidman. She showed good range from being a caring psychiatrist, to a loving mother to a terrified woman to a desperate mother who would do anything to protect her child. I also like the mood and tone of this film. Granted the Pod People in the 1956 and 1978 versions were a tad bit creepier but I liked this film better than the 1978 version overall and I didn't miss that crazy scream. However, the 1956 version is definitely a classic.

Sure "The Invasion" is not perfect and it has it flaws and I feel that the studio probably should have left the original version alone. After all, the majority of the film is stronger than the last half which is obviously where the re-shoots took place. Still despite the unnecessary out of order time cuts, and a tad too many car crashes, the film still worked for me. I was definitely entertained.

Now that's saying a lot especially since I went in with low expectations.

The 70s remake of this film succeeded because it was a chilling psychological thriller with little to no horror film elements and a biting ending that lingered with you for days.

This film starts out with the premise and setup, but quickly deviates into a different film -- a rehashing of 28 days later and outbreak with illogical, formulaic action sequences that are literally lifted straight from any zombie film. As usual with sub-par screenplays, the plot requires illogical and implausible events to move forward and provide thrills. In the end, it couldn't make up its mind whether it was an intellectually compelling, psychological thriller or yet another zombie action film? The ending was ... eh I don't even want to explain it.