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Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig star in a so-so riff on "The Body Snatchers" story
I'm Not Myself Today:
The Invasion
8-17-07 "Knight Thoughts" web exclusive
By Richard Knight, Jr.
The Invasion
8-17-07 "Knight Thoughts" web exclusive
By Richard Knight, Jr.
Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig star in The Invasion, yet another variation on "The Body Snatchers," the pulp 1950s era novel
that tells of an alien form taking over the bodies of humans while they sleep. This time they don't arrive in spores or grow in pods,
spewing forth human sized vegetables adapting and taking on their human hosts during slumber time. In recognition of our high
tech, short attention span age, the pods have now evolved to a gel-like goo that is easily eaten or drunk by unsuspecting earthlings.
An exploding space shuttle and its attendant debris is the clever method in which the alien strain enters earth's people. Unlike
previous adaptations of the story, which have been exciting and filled with the dread of the loss of individuality, this version never
finds the proper tone and a mid-picture lecture by Roger Rees as a Russian bureaucrat about the sins of America (everything from
the war in Iraq to Hurricane Katrina is invoked) seems more than a tad forced. By that time, the motivations of the characters, those
that have "become" and those that suspect what is happening, is so familiar from 50 years of Body Snatcher pictures that nothing in
this new one really resonates.
The screenwriter and director's decision to use the source material and turn it into a modern day political metaphor set in
Washington, D.C. - with the aliens becoming dulled out, plain, arch conservatives versus the emotional, compassionate, happy/sad
liberals - seems like a canny one and must have read beautifully on the page. But the execution is so unfocused, juts around so
haphazardly and in such a desultory manner that what might have seemed fresh and enticing - an alien variation on Kidman's recent
Stepford Wives (another remake that used the template of conservative vs. liberal), say - is tepid at best.
Kidman, as an anxious psychiatrist, runs around Washington and its environs looking to retrieve her little boy who she has left with
her ex-husband (Jeremy Northam) who has had a suspicious personality change. At the same time Daniel Craig, who is totally
wasted in what is essentially a supporting role, tries to get to the bottom of things from a scientific standpoint (aided by Jeffrey
Wright). Craig and Kidman, in the midst of a national crisis and Kidman and her kid, however, still have excellent cell phone service
and have no trouble texting each other and getting through on their i-phones. In a sub-plot, Josef Sommer and Ceila Watson play
a variation on the elderly couple that chose to go down with the Titanic rather than be separated. In her three scenes, Veronica
Cartwright, a nod to the 1978, much better version, plays the Kevin McCarthy role this time out - the character who KNOWS her
spouse has changed and can't get anyone to believe her. The fesity, expert Cartwright adds more life to her scenes than the rest of
the cast combined.
There's not much else to add - other than the ironic fact that The Invasion perfectly imitates the alien invaders it portrays. Even
though it's moderately entertaining it's a movie that feels false from the get go - it looks right, sounds right, but stubbornly, does
not FEEL right. This lifeless, by the numbers action picture (even the paranoia feels faked) is a movie that pod people would
certainly recognize for one of their own.
that tells of an alien form taking over the bodies of humans while they sleep. This time they don't arrive in spores or grow in pods,
spewing forth human sized vegetables adapting and taking on their human hosts during slumber time. In recognition of our high
tech, short attention span age, the pods have now evolved to a gel-like goo that is easily eaten or drunk by unsuspecting earthlings.
An exploding space shuttle and its attendant debris is the clever method in which the alien strain enters earth's people. Unlike
previous adaptations of the story, which have been exciting and filled with the dread of the loss of individuality, this version never
finds the proper tone and a mid-picture lecture by Roger Rees as a Russian bureaucrat about the sins of America (everything from
the war in Iraq to Hurricane Katrina is invoked) seems more than a tad forced. By that time, the motivations of the characters, those
that have "become" and those that suspect what is happening, is so familiar from 50 years of Body Snatcher pictures that nothing in
this new one really resonates.
The screenwriter and director's decision to use the source material and turn it into a modern day political metaphor set in
Washington, D.C. - with the aliens becoming dulled out, plain, arch conservatives versus the emotional, compassionate, happy/sad
liberals - seems like a canny one and must have read beautifully on the page. But the execution is so unfocused, juts around so
haphazardly and in such a desultory manner that what might have seemed fresh and enticing - an alien variation on Kidman's recent
Stepford Wives (another remake that used the template of conservative vs. liberal), say - is tepid at best.
Kidman, as an anxious psychiatrist, runs around Washington and its environs looking to retrieve her little boy who she has left with
her ex-husband (Jeremy Northam) who has had a suspicious personality change. At the same time Daniel Craig, who is totally
wasted in what is essentially a supporting role, tries to get to the bottom of things from a scientific standpoint (aided by Jeffrey
Wright). Craig and Kidman, in the midst of a national crisis and Kidman and her kid, however, still have excellent cell phone service
and have no trouble texting each other and getting through on their i-phones. In a sub-plot, Josef Sommer and Ceila Watson play
a variation on the elderly couple that chose to go down with the Titanic rather than be separated. In her three scenes, Veronica
Cartwright, a nod to the 1978, much better version, plays the Kevin McCarthy role this time out - the character who KNOWS her
spouse has changed and can't get anyone to believe her. The fesity, expert Cartwright adds more life to her scenes than the rest of
the cast combined.
There's not much else to add - other than the ironic fact that The Invasion perfectly imitates the alien invaders it portrays. Even
though it's moderately entertaining it's a movie that feels false from the get go - it looks right, sounds right, but stubbornly, does
not FEEL right. This lifeless, by the numbers action picture (even the paranoia feels faked) is a movie that pod people would
certainly recognize for one of their own.
