by The Film Blogger

Created on: September 07, 2009

From the moment that The Invasion begins, as Nicole Kidman's character sifts through a convenience store, popping pills and downing fizzy energy drinks, it is made to clear to us that this is, in every sense of the word, a modern-day reinvention of what is by now a classic story. If only this opening scene didn't abuse the Homeric "in media res" literary technique, showing us a scene from later on in the film for absolutely no reason at all, then it might inspire some intrigue.

If one can praise The Invasion for anything, it would be that it certainly doesn't waste any time at all in establishing that things aren't quite right in this town. There is little set-up, and Hirschbiegel fortunately neglects to go through the motions of presenting a quaint suburban family to us, and then usurping their quiet little utopia. There are hints of it here and there (such as Kidman's overly-loving, ridiculously well-mannered son), but at least their exposition is only apparent once the carnage has already begun to ensue.

As already stated, this is clearly a very modernised telling of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Whilst it would have been very easy to retain the simple story of the original (a tactic which I would likely have preferred, but then you'd have to ask what the point in remaking it was at all), this version throws in all sorts of modern devices - text messaging, Internet (using message boards to find out how many are infected), and dare I say, even a nod to E-Bay. I can't say that the addition of such mod-cons was a particularly welcome addition, as all it really served to do was deliver cheap solutions to a few problems, sow a few plot threads, and ultimately strip the tension down to rudimentary levels.

Considering that this is a remake of a remake of a remake, you may think it strange for me to complain that this is predictable. Whilst the core story remains the same as the original (and superb) Don Siegel version, a whole host of other characters are introduced, and if you hadn't guessed by now, the protagonist, Carol (Kidman) is now female. Even with all of these new characters, it's still largely predictable in regard to who will live and who will die. For example, Carol's slimy ex-husband begins antagonising her (as if parasitic aliens attempting to take over the town wasn't bad enough), and if you were to guess his fate, you'd probably be right.

Another important character is Ben Driscroll (Daniel Craig), Carol's best friend and "will they, won't they?"

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