Alexandre J
Forget Alien, Friday the 13th, or even The Shining: The Body Snatchers and both its 1956 and 1978 adaptations are among the most chilling stories ever told. There are no big spaceships nor any Lovecraftian horrors to fend off; in The Body Snatchers, the enemy is silent, almost invisible, but very much present and deadly. What happened to your loved ones after they took in those weird seeds everyone is finding across the county? Why are they acting different, as if they were robots? Why do they want me to sleep? Few horror movies could deliver the pure sense of paranoia the first two movies achieved, with 1956's Invasion of the Body Snatchers being exceptional for its time.
Then came 1993's Body Snatchers. Even though it flopped, this adaptation holds a special place in my heart. I still remember watching it back in the mid-90s, and I'm sure this movie, alongside dozens from the 80s and the 90s, is responsible for forging my preference for horror flicks. Nostalgia aside, not even Roger Ebert's praise could save it. It remains an overlooked horror gem that was unable to reach the level of success of its predecessors.
Jack Finney's fourth adaptation, The Invasion, premiered in 2007, achieving a $40.2 million box office (against an $80 million budget). Neither Nicole Kidman nor Daniel Craig was able to rescue it from the critical onslaught that ensued, with only 20% of positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.
What happened then? The Invasion has a couple of problems, the first one probably accounting for all subsequent failures. Unhappy with Oliver Hirschbiegel's original cut, the studio hired the Wachowskis and James McTeigue to tweak parts of the movie, and after some rewriting and reshooting here and there, we might have ended up with something that fails to be either a horror piece or a sci-fi/action movie. It has no horror elements in it, the pod people are downright silly, and the action scenes give this movie an existential crisis: It simply doesn't know what it wants to be. It begs us to know what exactly Oliver Hirschbiegel’s original cut was.
Contrary to previous installments, the 2007 reimagining also has the most superficial political message. In Jack Finney's novel, there is an environmental concern: the pod people would jump from planet to planet, depleting all resources. In the 1956 and 1978 adaptations, there is a clear message concerning the Cold War, with the pod people representing a foreign invasion. Then came the 1993 Body Snatchers, clearly concerned with the US military complex and how dehumanizing it was. Each movie was representative of its time, but how does The Invasion deal with the late 2000s zeitgeist? Well, it makes references to the invasion of Iraq, and that's about it. Not only does it have the weakest political message of them all, but it also equates pacifism with mindlessness, making its message reductive.
Aside from all those big issues, there are lesser ones that plague this movie and can be very annoying. Following a modern tendency in Hollywood, here you will find a lot of overexplaining. It always amazes me how studios think of the audience as 5th graders. Another noticeable issue is the pod people themselves: in the 1978 Invasion of the Body Snatchers, they were more nuanced, e.g., Leonard Nimoy's character was able to mimic human emotions. In the 2007 adaptation, they seem bland and dumb.
On a more controversial note, we should talk about the casting of Nicole Kidman for the main role. I have read some reviews on Rotten Tomatoes slamming the decision to cast her, pointing out her cold nature and saying that a warmer personality would be more suitable. I don't share the same opinion. Even though Kidman is not the warmest character out there, she does a good job in The Invasion. Another spot-on casting choice is Veronica Cartwright: for those who do not know, she played Nancy Bellicec in the 1978 Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
The Invasion (2007) fails in so many ways; it has no strong message, it is not cohesive, and it does not know what it wants to be. There are no top A-list actors capable of salvaging this derailed train. Should you watch it? It is at best a mid-experience, probably suitable for those who want to be aware of all Jack Finney's movie adaptations.
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Rated 1.5/5 Stars •
Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars
12/04/24
Full Review
Alessandra M
Este filme te surpreende. Mostra uma alternativa de invasão alienígena. Poderia ser mais bem amarrado nos porquês de algumas pessoas não serem infectadas, e não faz muito sentido os alienígenas não reconhecerem por conta de expressões (ou a falta dela).
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
11/23/24
Full Review
Jay W
There is a plot about Nicole Kidman's character having to stay awake to avoid having her body being snatched. The director made a bold choice to help the audience relate to the characters. I empathized with Kidman in that I was also struggling to stay awake for the vast majority of the film.
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
11/21/24
Full Review
Diogo A
Muito bom esse filme, assisto uma vez por ano
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
10/19/24
Full Review
Spike D
Everything is telegraphed so clumsily that you can't help but feel patronised, if not offended, by its unending ham-fistedness.
Rated 1/5 Stars •
Rated 1 out of 5 stars
10/16/24
Full Review
sarah w
Oh dear … strangely directed. … confusing in a way that I stayed with it trying to figure out … like I fell asleep and missed something so did a few rewinds … maybe that was the point but I gave up … weird sensation ..couldn’t make it to the end… odd film but not in an enjoyable way
Rated 0.5/5 Stars •
Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars
10/08/24
Full Review
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