The Invasion and/or Becoming Jane

[elizabethann]

Has anybody see The Invasion? I'm going this afternoon and was wondering if it's worth it.

I'm thinking of Becoming Jane instead.

Anybody see any of these movies?

Thanks.

[Alysser]

I don't exactly get what the "invasion" is about? What is supposed to be invading?? Aliens? LOL sorry I am a bit slow.

[lizbud]

I don't know what the movie Invasion is about but it looks a lot like an older
movie called Invasion Of The Body Snatchers. That one scared me, & I'm
scared of nothing.

[Grace]

Invasion is a remake of Body Snatchers.

[lizbud]

Invasion is a remake of Body Snatchers.

Really? Than this the 2nd remake of the original. The other
remake wasn't nearly as spooky as the first film.

[Grace]

This is the 3rd remake.

From our local paper . . .

Arriving in theaters a full 14 months after its original release date of June 2006, ``The Invasion'' turns out to be neither as awful as the advance buzz suggested nor as gripping as it could have been.

The third remake of the 1956 science-fiction classic ``Invasion of the Body Snatchers'' -- previously tweaked by director Philip Kaufman in 1978 and director Abel Ferrara in 1993 -- puts several thought-provoking twists on the concept of an alien force overwhelming earth's population and draining human beings of their emotions. The film features a suitably frazzled performance by Nicole Kidman as a mom trying to save her son. But, at least until the ``special edition'' DVD arrives, viewers can only speculate what ``Invasion'' might have been like if it hadn't been doctored by studio executives at Warner Bros., who reportedly ordered extensive changes in director Oliver Hirschbiegel's original cut.

As it stands, ``Invasion'' breaks down into three easily identifiable acts: The solemn, unsettling first 40 minutes seem to be Hirschbiegel's work. The next half-hour looks like an uneven mix of moody psychodrama and overwrought action. Most of the finale and the flimsy postscript were clearly -- and half-heartedly -- patched together by director James McTeigue (``V for Vendetta''), who supervised the film's reshoots.

Unsurprisingly, the setup is the movie's strongest section, showing psychiatrist Carol (Kidman, sporting meticulously applied makeup that gives her face the peachy glow of a newborn) beginning to sense subtle, scary changes in the world around her. A patient (Veronica Cartwright, who also appeared in the 1978 Kaufman film) confides that she threw a glass at her husband in the midst of an argument and he didn't respond; the bustling city streets are becoming much calmer and quieter than they should be; Carol's little boy, Oliver (Jackson Bond), discovers a slimy surprise in his bucket of Halloween candy.

When Carol and her best friend, a fellow doctor named Ben (Daniel Craig, in a role that seems to have been whittled away in post-production editing), begin putting the pieces of the puzzle together, the picture they come up with is ghastly indeed. As Carol notes about her patient in one of the movie's more amusing lines, ``Her husband's infected with an alien virus -- and I prescribe an anti-psychotic!''

And hasn't Carol, who is steadfastly determined not to kowtow to the invaders, actually paved the way for them? ``You give people pills to make their lives better,'' one of the possessed men tells her. ``How is that so different from what we're doing?''

``Invasion'' throws out the idea of the extraterrestrial meddlers using oversized pods to transform their victims into zombies. Instead, the disease is spread through saliva, vomit and other bodily fluids. The screenplay even finds a wacky upside to the epidemic: In a world largely drained of its aggressive tendencies, there's no place for war or international tensions.

This is intelligent, provocative writing -- and it's unfortunately eclipsed by ``Night of the Living Dead''-style hijinks as ``Invasion'' tries to escalate the tension by pumping up the adrenaline. The movie also includes a few aggravating, out-of-left-field mini-montages that mash together flashbacks, flash-forwards and, apparently, snippets from scenes that didn't make it into the movie; they interrupt the flow of the story without adding anything to it.

But if ``Invasion'' is something of a shambles, at least it has a few authentic shocks and some bright ideas rattling around in the chaos. That puts it head and shoulders above Kidman's last identity-theft sci-fi outing, the dreadful 2004 remake of ``The Stepford Wives.''

[elizabethann]

I saw The Invasion. It was good. But I would wait till it's on DVD and then Netflix it. It was predictable but there were some cool action/suspense scenes.

Nicole Kidman is so beautiful in this movie. Her skin is flawless. She has no wrinkles. Not even crows feet.

Anybody see The Bourne Ultamatium? I saw that the other day and it was awesome. I would highly reccommend seeing that at the movies.

[Karen]

Nicole Kidman is so beautiful in this movie. Her skin is flawless. She has no wrinkles. Not even crows feet.

Isn't modern technology wonderful? Between make-up and Photoshop ... Not that she isn't lovely in real life, but I never believe anyone who looks "too perfect," whether on film or in print.