The Invasion (2007)

Better than I expected, but just rent the 1978 version

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) isn't what I would call a great movie, but it is well made and much scarier than this new updated telling. Nicole Kidman is pretty good here, though her accent seemed a little off at times. Daniel "007" Craig is really wasted in this role. Why give a good actor a part that someone with the least bit of acting talent could pull off? The story does drag a bit, even though it's only 90 minutes long, but it wasn't as horrible as I read in many reviews. If you catch it for free on TV like I did over the weekend, it is worth your time.

2 and 1/2 out of 5 stars September 2, 2008

4 STARS FOR NICOLE

THE ONLY REASON TO WATCH THIS IS FOR Kidman....Like Jodie Foster, Kidman plays a great woman in distress and she drags you with her every step of the way. Great fun.
OH! And Craig looks great with that mascara! September 1, 2008

Not great. But don't fall alseep during this movie.

There's this one crazy scene where Nicole Kidman (Carol Bennell) is driving with her son Ollie, and a lot of the "changed people" hanging all over like a bunch of cockroaches, trying to breakthrough to kill her. It was hilarious when she hit a storefront and "they" all went flying like a bunch of bugs.

The pace is very tedious, and sometimes you wonder why Carol, a psychiatrist can't keep it together without being emotional; which is what the "pod people" notice immediately. Oh well, she manages to "cap off" a half dozen "pods" including Daniel Craig (Ben Driscoll-he survives) her colleague in a drugstore attempting to escape, rather than give in and
join them.

I'm not a real fan of Nicole Kidman. There are times in the movie when you just want to shout out "kill" or "run" when Carol should kill, or run. I sometimes wonder why Nicole Kidman is given this type role; always the very weak-willed and vulnerable stereotypical female who just barely keeps it together just to survive. But then again, just like in "Lethal Weapon," "Rambo," or "Predator" you're gonna' need the good old calculator to rack up the Nicole Kidman "kills." Not bad for a female non-heroine. Just Kidding.

Darn. They end up stopping the pandemic with widespread inoculations. Just when you think they (the uninfected) were going to start wholesale slaughter of the "Pod People." Oh yeah, Jeffrey Wright (Ride With The Devil, Syriana, Lady In The Water, Casino Royale) also starred as one of the Scientist buddy's to Daniel Craig.

September 1, 2008

Stars wasted in dullness. Good thing I watched it for free.

I gave this a couple of stars just for the production design and some action sequences. There is nothing else to recommend, as Kidman does some of her worst work and Daniel Craig tries to match that. The earlier versions of this story were far more effective and certainly were better films too. The little boy playing Kidman's son was appealing; one hopes he will find a better project later. This one is dull and pointless.
August 24, 2008

BRING YOUR BARF BAG FOR THIS ONE !!!

I always wondered what big movie stars do on their summer vacations. Now i know. Kidman and Craig floated through this boring and sometimes laughable remake of the Invasion of the Body Snatchers which was made some time in the 50's.

In this remake the aliens run up to you and puke in your face turning you into another puking alien. I think the pukers were actually shown the daily rushes of this awful movie and then put in front of the camera.

In the 50's as you slept soundly in your bed, loved and trusted ones would come into your room and place an alien pod plant under your bed. Over the course of a few hours the pod would grow into a replica of you and the real you dies. The replica is void of emotion and has only one purpose. To conquer Earth. A much more terrifying concept than some screaming idiot running up and down the streets puking into faces.

Save your money and check out the original movie with Kevin McCarthy.

I give this movie one half bag of steaming alien puke.

July 2, 2008

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