Review of The Invasion (2007) by Jeff B — 10 Aug 2010

Based on his notorious demise at the hands of actor John Wilkes Booth, Abraham Lincoln may not have been considered much of a theater critic. He did, however, impart a bit of wisdom forcibly applicable to the bland pseudo-thriller The Invasion: ?You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.? A movie that never fools sci-fi or thriller fans into thinking it is more than a heavy-handed wannabe potboiler, The Invasion at no time pleases anyone.

In the latest remake of ?Invasion of the Body Snatchers,? a mysterious alien infection spreads like an epidemic across the nation, causing a woman (Kidman) to fight for her life and that of her son, who may be the key to a cure.

When the characters blatantly voice the movie?s subtext through insipid dialogue AND the action is about as thrilling as a Snuggles bath tissue commercial, the movie is inarguably a bust, especially when said film is supposedly a sci-fi-thriller. Worse, it accuses its audience of stupidity-?spelling out its political allegories like a color-by-numbers children?s book. The 1956 Invasion of the Body Snatchers post-McCarthy-era classic and its 1978 post-Watergate remake at least waited until the fires died down to make their respective commentaries. With dubious foresight, director Oliver Hirschbiegel and screenwriter Dave Kajganich pass final judgment on the contentious state of our union now, having no idea how - or sadly if - it all ends.

Bottom line: Pod puke.