By Su-Kim Lee
This had better be the last incarnation of INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS because we’re running out of abbreviated titles. After BODY SNATCHERS and INVASION, the only other major word we’re left with is SNATCHERS, and that sounds like a really bad porno movie.
Ever heard of the term ‘too many cooks spoil the pot’? Well, that’s what we’ve got to contend with in this B-Movie botch. Whenever you find out a film has endured more than two directors, you gotta be skeptical. I mean, look at what happened to the latest EXORCIST films. First John Frankenheimer dies and Liam Neeson bails on the project. Then the studio doesn’t like Paul Schrader’s intellectual take so they hire Renny ‘I like to blow things up’ Harlin to pump up another version which winds up really, really sucking.
Oliver Hirschbiegel was awarded sole directorial credit for THE INVASION, though the film sloughed through four (yes, you read that correctly), directors – even having to weather through the Wachowski brothers’ decision to find yet another director because they allegedly didn’t feel that they could do the film justice.
… And it shows. It’s obvious from the onset that the editor had too much to contend with. The opening is clunky, the bulk is doughy and the ending is abominable. Although, that can’t be blamed entirely on the editor. I believe that blame in a situation like this usually winds up attributable to the producers and the studio and after all is said and done, the ending is so convenient it makes you long for ’50s flix with titles like EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS, THEM or even FIEND WITHOUT A FACE.
Anyway, back to THE INVASION. Nicole Kidman is the mother of a son who is immune to space spores the exploded space shuttle sprayed everywhere that are turning everyone into McCarthysism robots. Her friend/wannabe paramour Daniel Craig wants to help, but he is eventually rendered useless. After much ado, his medical cohorts develop a crop-dusting solution that makes everyone A-okay!
Kidman and Craig’s performances are spot on. Kidman sporting a bit of DEAD CALM paranoia and Craig pretty much completely negating his James Bond persona. Oh, and we can’t forget the ethereal Jackson Bond as Kidman’s kid Oliver – he’s gonna give Dakota Fanning (WAR OF THE WORLDS) a run for her money.
Yes, the premise is paper-thin, but it’s still a cool idea. Heck, how many zombie movies have been based on INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS? The idea of society being brainless drones will always be pertinent as long as corporate America and shopping malls exist.
One critic said that the main characters were too wooden and lifeless and boring, but who else would be able to fool the minions of the spores that they were one of them? If you gotta fake being boring, stupid and dull, that’s how you do it! And it managed to fool the likes of the hyper-pretentious L.A. Weekly writers! Woo-Hoo!
All in all, the movie isn’t terrible, but the insipid ending makes one long for the 1970s version where we get to see not only a poodle with a person’s face, but Donald Sutherland howling into the camera.
C’mon everyone, let’s chant it … one of us … one of us … one of us …