The Invasion
Studio: Warner Bros.
Rated: PG-13
Release Date: 2007-08-17
Cast: Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig
Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel
WorkNameSort: Invasion, The
Our Rating: 2.00
Just like the glass-eyed, emotionless victims of the space virus that has infected Earth in The Invasion, this latest remake of The Invasion of the Body Snatchers is heartless, predictable and well worth avoiding. Though director Oliver Hirschbiegel (Downfall) manages to inject occasional touches of subversive subtlety, he’s hampered by a ruinously awful script and his own propensity for nonsensical flash-editing. Navigating the screenplay’s potholes of bogus “scientific” claptrap and lack of terror are Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig, who shuffle through the film with such disinterest you can almost see the paycheck they’ve got one eye on. However, props must be given to young Jackson Bond, who manages to pull off a nimble and inoffensive turn as Kidman’s son. After Kidman makes her way through an endless parade of near-misses with puking half-aliens, the film stumbles into a conclusion that’s little more than a clump of expository dialogue and a too-convenient explanation for how things end up working out.
This article appears in Aug 15-21, 2007.