Directed by Dave Kajganich
If you fall asleep they’ll get you. No, it’s not a production night at Salient, but The Invasion. There have been some great covert alien invasion movies; John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982) and They Live (1988), The Arrival (1996), Invaders from Mars (1953 and 1986), The Puppet Masters (1994) and the first two versions of Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956 and 1978).
Unfortunately The Invasion is not a great science fiction film but is still a good Sunday night ride, and that is forgivable as it is good B-grade sci-fi. Previously in 1956 we had Cold War anxiety and in 1978 post Watergate paranoia, this time around in a post 911 world we once again realise that if America gets covertly taken over by aliens then we’re all fucked. Nicole Kidman continues her creeped out roles since she left her creepy Scientology beaux, and this time her mothering instincts take over as she attempts to evade the alien virus and track down her immune son. You might be thinking that you have seen this kind of film before, and chances are you have as Hollywood has been very good at pumping them out over the last few years. There are some creepy moments, however, that make one think, for example next time we ever have a mass immunisation program we should be warned that the new world order has arrived… But seriously, this time around there is no Leonard Nimoy or Donald Sutherland, only James Bond (Daniel Craig). The Invasion starts to build some tension but the ending is anticlimactic, and won’t leave the lasting impression that Sutherland made when he pointed his finger and let out a blood curdling alien scream, and it is for these reasons that you may want to wait until you can point your finger to it on the video store shelf instead of going to the multiplex to waste $14.50.