![]() Overall, The Invasion is almost too muddled to be truly bad, as if everyone involved hoped that a bunch of half-assed potential ideas could add up to an even passable real one. ![]() ![]() But Hirschbiegel's film is as vacuous as the Chan and Tucker trequel because its focus is so wide that there's nothing to concentrate on - be it a well-articulated diatribe on the dangers of conformity, a compelling tale of determined maternal love, or even the empty enjoyment of a cat-and-mouse pursuit between an encroaching evil force and "one woman with the truth." (Unlike Rush Hour 3, however, given its pedigree this film had nowhere to go but down rather than the other way around.) Too many random connections, revelations and convergences of fact - the most improbable of which is best described by one of my colleagues as a "coincidence sandwich" - reduce this collection of talented actors and interesting ideas to a sad and messy collection of missed opportunities. Director Oliver Hirschbiegel's direction jumps back and forth through time, accelerating the pace of the story, but never clarifying it for example, how does Carol get away from an angry mob of pursuers to the safety of her midtown office? Such problems are the province of thoughtless films like Rush Hour 3 that wear their crowd-pleasing stupidity on their sleeves, but shouldn't be left exposed in movies like this one that at least have the potential to be smart or well-crafted. a little bit at least? In effect, Kidman's character is an embodiment of the statement (echoed several times in the movie) that mankind is capable of anything if reduced to its most primal instincts, which technically means she's a lot more dangerous than any of the "benevolent" pod people.Īll that said, I don't have any real point of view about whether the film was confirmation or refutation of the principles explored in Finney's original story, mostly because the movie doesn't either - or at least it doesn't in any way that will matter to audiences looking for an engaging thriller. When the pod people can make peace in the Middle East in a matter of days, why isn't that a perspective worth exploring. But this apparent harmony contradicts the essential parable of Jack Finney's original story, which thus far has already been adapted three times (in 1956, 1978, and 1993), and observed not how conformity improved everyone's way of life, but violated it. That said, it definitely seems wrong that no one reacts to anything with more than minor amusement, especially since in order to do stuff like procreate you would think they would need to raise pulses (not to mention other things) a little. Personally, I'm not entirely sure why that's a bad thing. In the background of many scenes, news reports regale the emerging population of pod people with word that peace has broken out - that politicians once at each others' throats are now working peacefully together. Is the epidemic a virus pure and simple, a manifestation of our fears about anthrax or "dirty bombs" detonating in high-population areas? Is it a metaphor for current political realities, such as the trail of logic that led to our invasion of Iraq? Is it a parable for blind acceptance of a specific philosophy or way of thinking? Carol flees from these pod people, but why do they want her? It appears that they have more important things to do - such as, say, infecting the planet - than to send hit squads to her house, even if she is willing to brain a few strangers in order to find her son. (Imagine The Architect's speech from The Matrix: Reloaded revamped to really tell people how awful they are and you get the idea.) Meanwhile, the "action" is clumsily handled, if primarily because the film (again) fails to integrate any sort of conceptual continuity into the invasion plotline and its intellectual underpinnings. ![]() ![]() There are no fewer than three scenes in which characters share extended exchanges about the state of the world and the nature of humanity, and it is during these that the film comes to a grinding halt. With all that said, it's pretty clear early on what parts of the script were retooled by the Wachowskis - namely, any of the parts talking about politics, science, or humanity. ![]()
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