Review of The Invasion (2007) by Al M — 09 Feb 2010

According to my count, this makes the fourth version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. There is the classic 50s sci-fi film and the body horror 70s update that are both classics, and there is the less than stellar Abel Ferrara, who I normally love, version from the 90s.

This version tries to be relevant by its references to the Iraq war and other current events and by staging the infection as a government innoculation scheme, and it somewhat succeeds on those fronts.

Instead of featuring the pods like its three predecessors, The Invasion seems to blend Invasion of the Body Snatchers together with John Carpenter's The Thing (itself a homage to Body Snatchers as well as its 50s namesake) by having the aliens take over the host bodies in a viral fashion--the spores enter the body like phages that slowly devour the host cells.

The Invasion features some creepy scenes and is generally entertaining, but its acting is less than great even though it features talents like Kidman and Craig--they both come across as somewhat emotionless in way that suggests they may be podpeople when the film begins.

The Invasion perhaps makes some genuine political points, but it ultimately seems pointless (the fourth remake?!?) and poorly executed. Not bad for an evening's entertainment but certainly not a classic like the first two versions of the story.