The Invasion (2008, Blu-ray Disc)

I've always been a fan of Science Fiction movies especially films about Aliens from space of all kinds and sizes and, when I was a kid, I was terrified by the original movie,
The Invasion of the Body Snatchers, with those pods that absorbed the mind and thoughts of those it were put next to it while they slept then, years later, another version of that movie came out and it was pretty good too then last year, one of my favorite TV shows of the season, featured another kind of Body Snatcher when newly hatched former humans emerged out of the oozing Everglades after a hurricane hit the primordial swamp I still can't understand why The Invaders was cancelled.

So, it would be a given that I would have interest in this latest version of this terrifying theme, The Invasion.

The movie opens with a bang as a space shuttle crashes, spewing debris from Dallas to Washington DC immediately the site of the crash is swarming with the media and scientists soon the witnesses to the crash site and the news reporters are speculating that the debris is contaminated the CDC is called in and we meet Tucker Kaufman, (Jeremy Northam), who learns from the investigators, and the experiments that are taking place, that the organisms isolated are not like any that have been seen before Not from around here they say .could they be from out there, in deepest space? And, was this crash of the shuttle really an accident? As Tucker is ready to leave the site a young girl hands him a piece of the wreckage with which he cuts himself .Oh Oh

When Tucker goes home, his dog growls at him. The unthinkable happens while he is sleeping Thus begins this journey into a world gone mad as an unknown viral outbreak transforms all who come in contact with this new organism or, anyone who is already infected, into soulless, inhuman beings.

But first we meet Carol Bennell, (Nicole Kidman), a D.C psychologist with an adorable little boy Oliver, and her very dear friend, Dr. Ben Driscoll, (Daniel Craig), who just happens to be a scientist . Carol also just happens to be the ex-wife of Tucker, who calls Carol and wants to have Oliver come stay with him for a few nights Carol is not thrilled with the idea.

Spoiler alert, (The first transformation we see is when Tucker was asleep that first night), so we know Carol has every reason to try to avoid sending Oliver to his fathers house, though she doesn't know anything about this strange phenomenon which apparently has started already guess it's motherly instinct, or the reason for their divorce, which is never really explained.

Her first inkling of any weirdness is when Wendy, (Veronica Cartwright), a patient of hers, in a panicky state of mind, states "my husband is not my husband", a term we begin to hear over and over again soon Carol sees all sorts of unusual and strange things going on all around her, people on the streets acting in demented ways, some screaming and others just without emotion all together with glazed over eyes then, when a knock on her door from a "census taker" turns violent, she knows there is something terribly wrong taking place and it's just not around her News reports come in from all over the world that people are going crazy and the reports state that its some kind of Pandemic virus, an outbreak of unimaginable magnitude and wouldn't you know it, ex-husband, Tucker has come up with an "antidote" which is being given to all the citizens of the world.

From then on the story is basically one of a mother trying to protect herself and her child from a world gone mad, from all these new beings, former humans who went to sleep and woke up transformed .this mind altering epidemic is spreading at an alarming rate creating a world that seems to be transformed as well...but its becoming an alien world and only a few scientists, Dr Ben included, have an insight as to what is going on and are on a fight against time to find a cure that can stop it, will they succeed?

I was surprised at how much this movie kept me on the edge of my seat even knowing the basic story . Not knowing how the outcome was going to take place or when, kept the suspense high and the way these emotionless, soulless replicas were portrayed, how they spread this insidious virus and the fight Carol has to stay awake and one step ahead of all who wanted her and Oliver to become just like them was quite terrifying.

The acting was quite good, Nicole Kidman did an excellent job as usual, her face expressing the fear she felt at every turn and her main concern keeping her child safe. Daniel Craig who I normally like in the other roles he's played, (the new James Bond for one), was ok, nothing great, but then his role was not as important as you would have thought it would be.

The special effects were also extremely well-done, the make-up for the transformations was really creepy and the fast paced action, non-stop I literally didn't get up from my chair for the whole movie, even with the pause button close at hand this in itself is quite unusual I certainly didn't want to fall asleep!

All in all, I thought this movie was much better than I expected, the director and writers took a story that has been told before but added updated elements of suspense and details that seemed quite realistic, when you think of the fears our new generation have about bio-terrorism, about pandemic viruses and the state of the world itself. Invasion is a movie that we know can't happen, or should I say pray won't happen, in some way or another

The story is based on the classic novel The Body Snatchers written by Jack Finney in 1955.He went on to write other science fiction books, one, Time and Time Again, a story about time travel which earned him the World Fantasy life Achievement Award .But, it s this story that keeps us terrified with each incarnation of it s telling.


The DVD extras were very interesting

A documentary; We've Been Snatched Before: Invasion in Media History..
3 Featurettes:
The Invasion: A new Story
On The Set
The Invasion: Snatched


Main Cast :
Nicole Kidman - Carol Bennell
Jeremy Northam - Tucker Kaufman
Jeffrey Wright - Dr. Stephen Galeano
Daniel Craig - Ben Driscoll
Jackson Bond - Oliver
Veronica Cartwright - Wendy Lenk
Stephanie Berry - Carly
Adam Le Fevre - Richard Lenk
Field Blauvelt - Census Taker

Director
Oliver Hirschbiegel
Writer:
David Kajganich
Producer:
Joel Silver


The movie is 99 minutes long

I actually wish I could rate this 3 1/2 stars but am going with 4 since I think it is better than a 3