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Reviews
The Invasion (2007)
Better than I thought, tension but not terror
I should start this off by saying I saw the 1978 Invasion of the Body Snatchers when I was seven years old. I think I still have nightmares of the final scene. That said, this 2007 remake (the Invasion) has some moments of edge of your seat tension, along with a few screams by a raucous preview crowd.
I think Nicole Kidman does a good job as Carol Bennell, a professional, single mom whose world revolves around her son Oliver and her job as a psychiatrist. The movie starts with a quick snap-shot of Carol desperately trying to take meds and caffeine to stay awake. I didn't think that scene was necessary, as all the previews and tag-lines have stressed the "do Not Fall Asleep" theme.
The alien invasion comes by way of another tragic Shuttle incident. This is a necessary plot point but is hardly expanded upon.
For most of the movie the turned human-aliens pursue Carol as she desperately tries to get to her son. It seems almost matter of fact that while what seems like 99% of the city's population is after her, she stays pretty calm. I won't state much else about the plot details only to say that it seemed to me that for a good portion of the movie, all you see are human chase scenes... lots of running and car chases. Nothing really scary about any of them.
I had fore-warned my wife that given my experience with the 1978 Sutherland/Goldblum movie that she would be terrified. That was not the case at all, she actually liked the tense scenes and enjoyed the movie as a whole, but scared she was not. I liked the movie and have purposely left out any references to politics or commentaries on the current state of the world. I thought some of those scenes were crow-barred into the film.
Just my 2 cents.