The Invasion | DVD Review

You’d be forgiven if you experienced a sense of deja vu while watching The Invasion. After all, this is the fourth film version of author Jack Finney’s seminal 1955 science fiction masterpiece “The Body Snatchers”. But it’s not simply the film’s relationship with the novel and the previous filmed versions that make it seem familiar. The Invasion is about as formulaic as action movies can be.

A NASA shuttle inexplicably crashes to Earth along with some unexpected alien passengers in the form of diseased spores that quickly infiltrate the general population, turning them into complacent, unemotional beings. Of course, an expert from the CDC (Jeremy Northam, Gosford Park, Amistad) is the first person infected and he quickly sets up a flu vaccine program that will infect an unsuspecting public. It just so happens that he’s also the ex-husband of Carol Bennell (Nicole Kidman) and that their son Oliver is one of the few people on Earth who seems to be immune to the alien virus. When she starts suspecting what might be going on, Carol enlists the help of her best friend Ben Driscoll (Daniel “James Bond” Craig) to help her find her son and get them all to safety. Apparently, the producers were not impressed with the film that German director Oliver Hirschbiegel turned in and they enlisted the Wachowski Brothers and James McTeigue (director of V For Vendetta) to rewrite and re-shoot much of the film. This meddling makes for a patchwork film and it’s easy to see that it could have been so much more. With an $80 million budget, The Invasion was considered a box office flop, earning roughly $20 million in North America.

All of this isn’t to say that The Invasion is not one hell of a fun film to watch. The excellent source material that can be adapted to play upon the prevailing fears of any era, combined with the director’s competent grasp of what makes a good action film (frenetic pacing, explosive set pieces, etc.) make for a fast-paced, if ultimately forgettable, 99 minutes. Destined to be compared unfavorably to all three previous versions (the 1956 version was a thinly-veiled attack on McCarthyism, the 1978 version was a nod to the public’s obsession with cults, and the 1993 version had to do with the spread of AIDS and a possible military involvement), the premise of a “flu” pandemic and the paranoia caused by the media in regards to it is quite compelling, but it doesn’t hold a candle to any of the other three.

The film is presented in a widescreen format, with very effective use of the 5.1 surround sound capabilities. Where this DVD release falters, though, is in the special features. An unfocused documentary and three too-short featurettes are all that’s on offer here. Considering the history of the subject material for The Invasion, you’d think there’d be a bevy of features that could be included. At the very least, they could have fleshed out the existing featurettes into full-blown mini-documentaries.
We’ve Been Snatched Before: Invasion in Media History is a less-than-twenty minute documentary that doesn’t really zero in on any one topic, although it does discuss the possibilities of widespread communicable diseases and the media’s dual role as a warning service and as a spreader of paranoia. It could have been a lot more interesting if it had been more focused and a bit longer.
The Invasion: A New Story is a three minute featurette focusing on the differences between the many incarnations of the story over the years and how they were a product of the fears and politics of their times.
The Invasion: On The Set is also less than three minutes and shows a few instances of the cast and crew preparing for a scene, juxtaposed with the finished scene.
The Invasion: Snatched is also far too short. It shows how the crew went about getting some of the special effects done for the film, but never in enough detail to be of any worth.

The invasion is a fun action film, especially if you are a fan of Kidman or Craig. Their performances are game and they have an interesting chemistry. But much like the Stepford-ized humans that the infected become in the film, there’s just no emotion to it. You don’t really care what happens, and you almost root for a downbeat ending.

Movie rating – 2.5

Disc Rating – 2