Scan and Pan
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
The Invasion
After a space shuttle crashes, an alien virus begins to spread that turns its victims into emotionless drones. Psychiatrist Carol Bennell (Nicole Kidman) begins to notice people around her changing, including her ex-husband (Jeremy Northam) who has their son Oliver (Jackson Bond) for a sleepover. With the help of her colleague and close friend Ben Driscoll (Daniel Craig), Carol discovers that the transformation occurs when a victim falls asleep. Although infected herself, she takes drugs to stay awake so she can rescue her son and make it to the safety of a military base where a cure is being worked on by a molecular biologist (Jeffrey Wright).
The film went into production with acclaimed German filmmaker Oliver Hirschbiegel (Der Untergang aka Downfall) in the director's chair. After shooting was completed, studio executives decided they weren't satisfied with his work and brought in the Wachowski Brothers (The Matrix) to rewrite the script and supervise seventeen days worth of re-shoots. The Wachowskis hired James McTeigue (V for Vendetta) to direct the re-shoots, although only Hirschbiegel receives on-screen credit.
It's hard to tell if the film would have been better or worse without the re-shoots, but the clash of styles between the two directors doesn't help matters. The end result is a very uneven work, a slick but empty film. There are some effective scenes in the second half which evoke an atavistic response to seeing a mother and child in danger, but they quickly give way to routine action scenes. The original 1956 film directed by Don Siegel and the 1978 remake by Philip Kaufman both evoked a paranoid, disturbing mood. This version succeeds in doing so in only a precious few scenes, which simply isn't enough to sustain itself with.
Ostensibly based on Jack Finney's classic science fiction novel The Body Snatchers, which was the basis for three previous films, first time screenwriter Dave Kajganich and the Wachowskis have refashioned the story into something very different, keeping only the theme of humans being taken over by something alien while they sleep. The film also has a happy ending, but that's actually consistent with the novel. The message in the film about human nature is absurd and actually makes one sympathetic to the pod people, but it's impossible to say if Kajganich's script or the Wachowskis' rewrite should be blamed.
Cinematographer Rainer Klausmann (Der Untergang) sets an appropriate mood for the story and a few scenes, like the one set in a nearly abandoned subway station, work well because of his lighting. The score by John Ottman (Superman Returns) is atmospheric and deserves a better film to go with.
Despite the troubled production, Kidman manages to deliver a solid performance as Carol. She makes us feel her panic when her son is threatened and is believable enough with the character as written. Craig evinces the charisma that made him so good as the new James Bond, but the script doesn't provide him with a compelling character to work with. Wright is too good of an actor to be wasted on a few scenes of technobabble. Bond is believable as Oliver, but Northam is unconvincing as his pod person father. Josef Sommer and Celia Weston are suitable as the Czech ambassador and his wife, while Roger Rees makes his appearance as a Russian diplomat a memorable one. Veronica Cartwright, who starred in the 1978 version, has a small role as one of Carol's patients.
The premise of The Invasion may be familiar, but it can still be an effective one if handled properly. If not, you get a film like this which should be avoided like an alien plague. Unless there's a director's cut released on DVD, we'll probably never know who really deserves the most blame for this disappointing cinematic exercise. Just watch the 1956 or 1978 versions of Invasion of the Body Snatchers instead.
[2 out of 5 stars]
The latest remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a mess, no doubt in part due to its troubled production history.
After a space shuttle crashes, an alien virus begins to spread that turns its victims into emotionless drones. Psychiatrist Carol Bennell (Nicole Kidman) begins to notice people around her changing, including her ex-husband (Jeremy Northam) who has their son Oliver (Jackson Bond) for a sleepover. With the help of her colleague and close friend Ben Driscoll (Daniel Craig), Carol discovers that the transformation occurs when a victim falls asleep. Although infected herself, she takes drugs to stay awake so she can rescue her son and make it to the safety of a military base where a cure is being worked on by a molecular biologist (Jeffrey Wright).
The film went into production with acclaimed German filmmaker Oliver Hirschbiegel (Der Untergang aka Downfall) in the director's chair. After shooting was completed, studio executives decided they weren't satisfied with his work and brought in the Wachowski Brothers (The Matrix) to rewrite the script and supervise seventeen days worth of re-shoots. The Wachowskis hired James McTeigue (V for Vendetta) to direct the re-shoots, although only Hirschbiegel receives on-screen credit.
It's hard to tell if the film would have been better or worse without the re-shoots, but the clash of styles between the two directors doesn't help matters. The end result is a very uneven work, a slick but empty film. There are some effective scenes in the second half which evoke an atavistic response to seeing a mother and child in danger, but they quickly give way to routine action scenes. The original 1956 film directed by Don Siegel and the 1978 remake by Philip Kaufman both evoked a paranoid, disturbing mood. This version succeeds in doing so in only a precious few scenes, which simply isn't enough to sustain itself with.
Ostensibly based on Jack Finney's classic science fiction novel The Body Snatchers, which was the basis for three previous films, first time screenwriter Dave Kajganich and the Wachowskis have refashioned the story into something very different, keeping only the theme of humans being taken over by something alien while they sleep. The film also has a happy ending, but that's actually consistent with the novel. The message in the film about human nature is absurd and actually makes one sympathetic to the pod people, but it's impossible to say if Kajganich's script or the Wachowskis' rewrite should be blamed.
Cinematographer Rainer Klausmann (Der Untergang) sets an appropriate mood for the story and a few scenes, like the one set in a nearly abandoned subway station, work well because of his lighting. The score by John Ottman (Superman Returns) is atmospheric and deserves a better film to go with.
Despite the troubled production, Kidman manages to deliver a solid performance as Carol. She makes us feel her panic when her son is threatened and is believable enough with the character as written. Craig evinces the charisma that made him so good as the new James Bond, but the script doesn't provide him with a compelling character to work with. Wright is too good of an actor to be wasted on a few scenes of technobabble. Bond is believable as Oliver, but Northam is unconvincing as his pod person father. Josef Sommer and Celia Weston are suitable as the Czech ambassador and his wife, while Roger Rees makes his appearance as a Russian diplomat a memorable one. Veronica Cartwright, who starred in the 1978 version, has a small role as one of Carol's patients.
The premise of The Invasion may be familiar, but it can still be an effective one if handled properly. If not, you get a film like this which should be avoided like an alien plague. Unless there's a director's cut released on DVD, we'll probably never know who really deserves the most blame for this disappointing cinematic exercise. Just watch the 1956 or 1978 versions of Invasion of the Body Snatchers instead.
[2 out of 5 stars]
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