Critic Reviews
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Dana Stevens, Slate
It falls far short as an effective sci-fi thriller, not to mention the brainy political allegory it's determined to be.
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Joe Baltake, Passionate Moviegoer
'The Invasion': Oliver Hirschbiegel's take on Jack Finney's classic story is subtly political, commenting ever so slyly on the apathy and indifference - and the lack of empathy and compassion - that have taken over since 9/11, as well as the sense of enti
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Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper
There's much to recommend here. But there are too many inconsistencies.
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Manohla Dargis, New York Times
The latest and lamest version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers might have been an accidental camp classic if its politics weren't so abhorrent and the movie didn't try to hide its ineptitude behind a veil of pomposity.
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Lou Lumenick, New York Post
Nicole Kidman's character struggles to stay awake -- as will the audience.
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Scott Bowles, USA Today
Next time the aliens come invading, they may want to pass the brains, hold the lecture.
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Geoff Berkshire, Metromix.com
Even with its flaws The Invasion is still eerie, provocative and a solid showcase for Kidman.
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Joshua Starnes, ComingSoon.net
The Invasion is too solidly crafted to be genuinely bad film, but it completely fails to grip as a thriller.
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Steve Newton, Georgia Straight
As ridiculous as The Invasion gets, its competent acting, fast pace, and campy B-movie vibe keep you weirdly transfixed against your better judgment.
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Fernando F. Croce, CinePassion
Shoddy and soulless
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Felix Vasquez Jr., Cinema Crazed
The aliens make it so plainly obvious to their intentions that it'd be ridiculous not to notice what was happening with their landing on Earth...
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Heather Huntington, ReelzChannel.com
Taken as a more popcorn-y sci-fi flick with a cool look, a tense, creepy feel, and uncommonly handsome leads giving above-average-for-the-genre performances, however, The Invasion is perfectly entertaining.
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Sean Gandert, Paste Magazine
There are worse ways to spend an hour and a half than staring mindlessly at a movie's impossibly beautiful cast, but there are plenty of better ones as well.
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Cynthia Fuchs, Common Sense Media
Smart thriller devolves into standard action fare.
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Adam Tobias, Watertown Daily Times
The Invasion is the fourth and most recent big screen adaptation of Jack Finney's 1955 science fiction novel The Body Snatchers, and hopefully it will be the last.
Read all 15 critic reviews
Featured Audience Ratings
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I enjoyed this and thought Kidman and Craig did a good job. This is the third or fourth version of this story and while not the best I would say its not he worst. I liked the changes and thought the very beginning of the film, prob the first whole half wa good as the aliens took over… More
I enjoyed this and thought Kidman and Craig did a good job. This is the third or fourth version of this story and while not the best I would say its not he worst. I liked the changes and thought the very beginning of the film, prob the first whole half wa good as the aliens took over and Kidmans character slowly learned the trurth. The second half goes to action oriented and takes away some of the thrill but still a decent ride none the less.
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The Invasion sets up carrying the original premise, but once product placement, modern technology, and different characters get in the way, the premise is all that makes this an identifiable retelling. Psychiatrist Carol Bennell (Nicole Kidman) is conducting research on an… More
The Invasion sets up carrying the original premise, but once product placement, modern technology, and different characters get in the way, the premise is all that makes this an identifiable retelling. Psychiatrist Carol Bennell (Nicole Kidman) is conducting research on an extraterrestrial epidemic that has suddenly struck her hometown, and begun to spread further. For whatever reason, she feels motivated to stop the virus from taking over the world. Meanwhile, her son (Jackson Bond) has been taken away to her ex-husband Tucker (Jeremy Northam)-who is suffering the mysterious epidemic as well! Trying to discern what reaction the script is intended to draw is nearly impossible. Sci-fi thrillers aren't supposed to make us laugh or roll our eyes at the screen. Screenwriter David Kajganich is a first-timer here; unfortunately, there was no one else to assist him or make the abysmal writing more exciting. It's as if Kajganich has never seen a horror movie, let alone a modern one. Red-flag clichés are as much in plain sight as jewelry when we walk into a jewelry store. It makes the film disastrously obvious.
read the rest at themoviefreakblog.com
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This story catches your attention from the start but little by little ends up getting cliched and the plot just gets weaker by the minute. However, Nicole Kidman is enough to recommend this and also for those who can't miss a sci-fi flick like me.
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No where near as good as the original Donald Sutherland version. Flashy car chases and lots of running don't make a film intense or scary, there's no suspense here. The invaders are just a virus with no real point behind them (would have been better if they were actual… More
No where near as good as the original Donald Sutherland version. Flashy car chases and lots of running don't make a film intense or scary, there's no suspense here. The invaders are just a virus with no real point behind them (would have been better if they were actual aliens) there's no build up, it just dives straight into it and the ending is a total wash out all tied up with a nice little bow, what was the point?
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Well this stinks... The only good thing about this, and the only reason people watch it is Nicole Kidman. But she does not make up for the flaws... And there are quite a few. Just a really boring movie.
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Though it's no work of art, this remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a solid thriller featuring fun performances by Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig.
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Jackson Bond was so cute. I liked this movie. It was really a good one.
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The least successful of the remakes and no where near as good as the original. The budget, it seems, was blown on Kidman's fee, not enough money for a decent script writer after that - and what for? A cardboard cut-out of her would have been sufficient and more convincing. The… More
The least successful of the remakes and no where near as good as the original. The budget, it seems, was blown on Kidman's fee, not enough money for a decent script writer after that - and what for? A cardboard cut-out of her would have been sufficient and more convincing. The happy ending says all you need to know about Oliver Hirschbiegel's understanding of the concept. Utter garbage!
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There is an alien virus that is taking over the world. It's a bit like an invasion of body snatches. People become infected and mutate when they sleep. Nicole's son seems to be immune and could cure the population. Good sci-fi movie. A bit like I am Legend.
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28/03/2010 (TELEVISION)
I love running away movies, the fear of getting caught is a pretty cool rush and this has got a good dose of 'Let's get the heck out of here!'
During this alien flick you will experience a state of mental uncertainty and excitement as decisions… More
28/03/2010 (TELEVISION)
I love running away movies, the fear of getting caught is a pretty cool rush and this has got a good dose of 'Let's get the heck out of here!'
During this alien flick you will experience a state of mental uncertainty and excitement as decisions are accompanied by a degree of apprehension and anxiety.
Surprisingly good. I wasn't in the mood for anything and caught this on TV 'cause I was too lazy to move. Its funny, before I rated this movie, it had a big red 'NOT INTERESTED' and now its got a 3.5 rating which is pretty good in my books.
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It's got nothing on the '78 version, but it's not a worthless attempt at adapting a classic idea. This is a little bit more predictable and viewer friendly. It felt so much like an M. Night Shyamalan film, just a little bit less of an artistic approach. At the end of… More
It's got nothing on the '78 version, but it's not a worthless attempt at adapting a classic idea. This is a little bit more predictable and viewer friendly. It felt so much like an M. Night Shyamalan film, just a little bit less of an artistic approach. At the end of the day, this is just an inferior product.
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Another interpretation of Invasion of the body snatchers. This was an ok thriller, well made with a good cast. It just lacks any real punch, it's not tense, gripping or scary in any way. A missed opportunity really. I'd recommend The Faculty instead as that is a much more… More
Another interpretation of Invasion of the body snatchers. This was an ok thriller, well made with a good cast. It just lacks any real punch, it's not tense, gripping or scary in any way. A missed opportunity really. I'd recommend The Faculty instead as that is a much more fun film, also influenced by the body snatchers.
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Besides Nicole Kidman in some see-through sleepwear, there's not much of The Invasion that I would care to experience again.The movie is ham-fisted with its message, uninspired, and worst of all, dull.
The plot was about as predictable as it could be. Any suspense that I felt… More
Besides Nicole Kidman in some see-through sleepwear, there's not much of The Invasion that I would care to experience again.The movie is ham-fisted with its message, uninspired, and worst of all, dull.
The plot was about as predictable as it could be. Any suspense that I felt was solely based on my reluctance to see anyone's mouth or beverage vomited in. There were no thrills and no chills, but lots of boredom.
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i love this movie i thought it was a really good remake and its really worth a watch
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Washington psychiatrist Nicole Kidman begins to notice changes in her clients which leads her to believe that the human race is being over run by an alien intelligence. In yet another remake (of a remake) of a classic, The Invasion is guilty of the usual Hollywood crimes of putting… More
Washington psychiatrist Nicole Kidman begins to notice changes in her clients which leads her to believe that the human race is being over run by an alien intelligence. In yet another remake (of a remake) of a classic, The Invasion is guilty of the usual Hollywood crimes of putting flash above substance and dumbing down. Although the film looks good, the director is in far too much of a hurry to cut to the chase (literally) at the expense of tension or the build up of suspense, and there is far too much pseudo science and not enough invention in its approach to the concept. I'm in no way a fan of Nicole Kidman, but she's not too bad here (although my cynical side would say that she's had a lot of practice acting like an emotionless drone) but she's still not a strong enough presence to carry a film on her own in the way she is expected to here as Daniel Craig's character is criminally underused. The concept of replica human beings grown from pods is also far more horrific than people just getting all slimy in their sleep, and the way the originals allowed the audience to ponder the idea of a peaceful existence at the expense of individuality and free will is completely dispensed with to be replaced with the dim-witted "we're evil aliens and we're going to kill your babies" plot we have here. So all we're left with is a bog standard chase thriller and taken as that it is efficiently handled, but even that much is scuppered by one of the worst "Is that it??!" endings I have ever had the misfortune to experience. On the whole, a typical Hollywood remake. Doh.
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I quite liked this movie, and I think that playing the hysterical and breathless, quietly panicking matriarch is Nicole Kidman's forte. This plot is simple and straight forward, and doesn't rely on a tremendous amount of action, but gets it going quite quickly and artfully.… More
I quite liked this movie, and I think that playing the hysterical and breathless, quietly panicking matriarch is Nicole Kidman's forte. This plot is simple and straight forward, and doesn't rely on a tremendous amount of action, but gets it going quite quickly and artfully. The pervading us vs. them paranoia seeps through this movie very well, and instills the dread necessary to thoroughly creep out the audience. I don't think they needed to rely as much on special effects as they did (the scares are driven by the plot, not by its visuals), but they did a lot to add to the story. The alien invaders in this film are a very formidable villain, attacking and menacing the human hosts from all angles: you're scared to reveal your own anguish, you're scared to trust anyone else, you're scared of not knowing what they're up to, and, if you get infected, you're scared to go to sleep. Apart from the abrupt and ludicrously simple way the crisis is ultimately averted, this movie is really well done.
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If you compare this film to the other Kidman vehicle "Cellular" this is a masterpiece. However, that mainly shows just how bad and implausable the aforementioned film really was.
This film has holes, a totally unnecessary final chase scene, and some questionable editing… More
If you compare this film to the other Kidman vehicle "Cellular" this is a masterpiece. However, that mainly shows just how bad and implausable the aforementioned film really was.
This film has holes, a totally unnecessary final chase scene, and some questionable editing however... there are moments when you can really feel the claustrophobic nature of the subject matter, and at it's core is once again (as in I Am Legend) wether the hive mentality is an aborration or possibly the next step in evolution. Unfortunately, it is a bit heavy handed here - choosing to hit you over the head with the "message" instead of letting it evolve into our consciousness.
Surely not as creepy as the Sutherland version, this still managed to carry off the suspicion "is he one of them".
I also thoroughly enjoyed Roger Reese of the Royal Shakespear Company as the Russian ambassador, accent totally spot on.
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<i>"Do not trust anyone. Do not show emotion. Do not fall asleep."</i>
A mysterious, mind-altering epidemic has infected humankind, and when a Washington, D.C. psychiatrist discovers that the outbreak seems to be extraterrestrial in origin, she struggles to… More
<i>"Do not trust anyone. Do not show emotion. Do not fall asleep."</i>
A mysterious, mind-altering epidemic has infected humankind, and when a Washington, D.C. psychiatrist discovers that the outbreak seems to be extraterrestrial in origin, she struggles to save her son from infection in this sci-fi thriller starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig, and directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel (Das Experiment). The space shuttle has crashed, and investigators assigned to explore the wreckage have found something unimaginable in the debris -- something from the deepest reaches of outer space. Everyone who comes into contact with it soon begins to transform in ways that can't be explained by modern science. While their physical appearance remains completely unaltered, their emotions seem to be drained and their actions become strangely inhuman. The only people who know the truth about this extraterrestrial epidemic are Washington, D.C. psychiatrist Carol Bennell (Kidman) and her longtime friend Dr. Ben Driscoll (Craig). It seems that the alien virus attacks people in their sleep, and by the time they awaken, the transformation has already taken place. The contagion is spreading rapidly, and as more people fall victim to its eerie effects by the hour, it becomes impossible to differentiate the infected from those who can still be trusted. When Carol realizes that her young son may hold the only hope for saving the human race, she struggles to remain awake long enough to find the boy and prevent planet Earth from becoming host to a terrifying new breed of extraterrestrials. Based on the book The Body Snatchers by Jack Finney, The Invasion was written by David Kajganich and co-stars Jeffrey Wright and Jeremy Northam.
<u><b>Review</b></u>
If you were one of those who complained at the way "War of the Worlds" ended wait until you watch this movie. It gives "movies with happy, convenient and easy endings" a bad name. Why make us go through so much if at the end all they're going to say is: "everybody took their vaccine and got cured, roll the credits" ? The cast of this movie is pretty good but unfortunately its biggest weakness is that it is not very scary. After some 30 years I still haven't forgotten the very last scene of the second version with Donald Sutherland pointing his finger at Brook Adams. Good luck trying to remember this version's ending in a couple of weeks. It could and should have been much, much better.
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A collosal misfire. Kidman is wasted in a film that doesn't care to explain its alien invasion origins, nor why aliens chase after people once they are infected (what's the point?). There's a lot of bad character decisions to go around, not to mention the share of… More
A collosal misfire. Kidman is wasted in a film that doesn't care to explain its alien invasion origins, nor why aliens chase after people once they are infected (what's the point?). There's a lot of bad character decisions to go around, not to mention the share of pathetic dialogue and terrible plotting. Jackson Bond is one of the worst child actors I've seen in a while, his movements and the way he delivers his lines, just horrendous. Overall, a pretty poorly made movie.
Read all 20 featured audience ratings
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