The Invasion

I didn't really expect to see this movie, I just sort of did. I wasn't totally against it, since I like movies about aliens, and if nothing else, there are worse people you could watch for an hour and a half than Nicole Kidman. I remember watching the 1956 version some time ago, and liking the idea. It was like a good, long episode of the Twilight Zone, focusing on an interesting premise and disturbing atmosphere in lieu of a bunch of special effects, and it worked quite well. The Invasion goes the same route, with a few good effects shots to set it up, but most of the tension and excitement comes from just watching normal people try to escape from emotionless shells of their former friends and family.

Most of the problems came from the ways they changed it from the original. They really avoided the whole alien aspect; the antagonist is an alien invasion in the sense that they are a form of life that was not created on earth, coming to take it over, but there are no pods or any of the other science fiction elements that make it a little more entertaining, in my view. It played a bit like just another thriller, when it could have been more interesting than that. With the horror/thriller angle comes the annoying flashes-of-images-with-loud-noises that masquerade as something actually scary and plenty of unbelievably dumb actions taken by the main characters. Kidman is a psychiatrist who holds her own intellectually at dinner parties, but still does things like just sit around when she's supposed to be avoiding sleep, as opposed to, I don't know, doing anything at all to keep herself occupied.

Daniel Craig is fine as the love interest, he's a good actor who can bring some respectability to any part he plays. He and his doctor coworkers are working to find a cure for the epidemic that's taking over the planet, which is explained much more scientifically than it was in previous incarnations. I don't understand the point of this, the audience is fine with the alien spore just working, we don't need medical terms we don't know thrown at us, and when they stumble upon possible cures quite easily it just seems less believable than if they never tried to justify it in the first place. This all leads to a disappointing ending which just isn't as effective as the original's.

The first movie used the premise to comment on topical issues like McCarthyism, and like other remakes, The Invasion updates it to say some things about Iraq. When they've taken over, the aliens bring peace to the world, ending wars and struggle, and it makes a point that maybe the world is better off with everyone turned into conforming, hollow citizens. The protagonists are trying to save the true nature of humanity, but is it really worth it? It's an interesting question which does a lot to make up for a lot of the movie's other deficiencies. It's reasonably exciting and entertaining throughout. There are some dumb moments, but you can just laugh at it and move on. If it's not the best movie in the world, it was at least enjoyable while we were watching it.