Film - The Invasion (2007, Dir. Oliver Hirschbiegel)

I’ve never seen the original Invasion of The Body Snatchers film so have nothing with which to compare this film. Some might say that’s a good thing, as I find that if you have a memory of the original in your head, it sometimes hinders you making a proper judgment about the film you’re watching. I know the basic story – aliens (in one form or another) find their way onto Earth (in this instance, clinging to the body of a doomed space shuttle, crashing back to earth) and start taking over the bodies and minds of humans. That’s the very basic premise anyway. I’d heard good and bad things about the film but decided that I’d make up my own mind.

I’m a fan (of sorts) of Nicole Kidman’s work – OK, and her looks – and find her very watchable in pretty much everything she does. Here she plays Carol Bennell, a psychiatrist and mother to Oliver. When a patient of hers describes her husband as ‘not being her husband anymore’, it sparks Carol’s curiosity. She begins to notice other peoples’ strange behaviour and gradually the realisation dawns on her (and a few other ‘uninfected’ citizens) that something very bad is happening. Helped by her friend/boyfriend (I couldn’t quite get a handle on what their relationship was supposed to be) Ben, (played by Daniel Craig), Carol has to try to protect Oliver and find her way to safety. The thing is, she’s been infected by her ex-husband (Jeremy Northam) and, as the infection takes hold when the victim is asleep, she must stay awake at all costs. All the while, scientists are working to manufacture a cure for the ‘pandemic’.

The film starts well, throwing us into the story halfway through, as a panicking Carol searches for medication in a deserted grocery store, to keep her awake. Then we’re taken back to when it all started and the back-story is filled in efficiently. The performances are all good and solid but the script could have done with some fine-tuning. At points we’re buried in medical jargon while a minute later we’re virtually being spoon-fed the plot, just in case anyone got left behind. Kidman’s performance is of her usual high quality but Craig’s, while not being bad, is what some might term as ‘phoned in’. The intensity with which we saw him take on his first Bond film was conspicuous by its absence. Granted, the two characters are miles apart, but, as Carol’s only friend against all the ‘infected’, the character just needed more about him.

This film represented director, Oliver Hirschbiegel’s first foray into the Hollywood ‘big time’, having spent the previous twenty years or so working on German films and TV projects. Unfortunately, it showed. Although there was tension, there was just not enough of it. There was, of course, the underlying message that as humans, we fight and wage war against each other, but as emotionless souls we are forever at peace, having no reason to fight. So which state is best? The question, which (and admittedly, I’m guessing a little here) must have been a major point of the original, is touched upon in the film but never really addressed in any serious way.

As a way to pass an hour and a half, you could do worse. I really wanted this film to be good, given it’s two lead stars and the basic story, but I can’t help seeing it as an opportunity missed. It’s like your parents used to say when you upset them as a kid: ‘I’m not angry, just disappointed’.