by rick grant rickgrant01@comcast.net
C+ Rated R 93 min
Nicole Kidman stars as a Washington psychiatrist in this umpteenth remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. This take on the old scenario is more like The Andromeda Strain in that it involves an alien virus. In this case, however, the virus possesses human-like intelligence and mutates inside the victims while they sleep, transforming them into an emotionless collective consciousness, sort of like Star Trek’s Borg.
The pandemic happens when the Space Shuttle crashes and the scientists find the alien virus, which has spread to the nearby towns. Suddenly, people are acting stranger than usual. They stand in groups like bad extras in a low budget film. It’s a thin premise to drive a 93-minute film, however, filmmaker Oliver Hirschbiegel hired high-profile actors like Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig to beef up this regurgitated script.
Kidman portrays Dr. Carol Bennell, a psychiatrist with a lucrative practice. When one of her patients complains that her husband is not the man she married because he is suddenly acting like another person, Dr. Bennell prescribes new medications. Dr. Bennell reasons that all women complain about that. Then, Dr. Bennell’s ex-husband starts to act strangely, and she begins to notice other signs that the virus is taking over the bodies of many people. She freaks out and picks up her son from his visit with his dad.
Dr. Bennell’s status as a doctor of psychiatry has attracted a close-knit circle of friends- college professors, biologists, and other intellectuals. A biologist friend is working with the CDC to isolate the virus to learn about its life cycle. Clearly, there is a consensus among the country’s most distinguished biological scientists that this microbe is not from this world. Victims go through a metamorphosis and emerge as alien beings – an extension of a group consciousness.
Amazingly, Dr. Bennell’s own son, Oliver (Jackson Bond), is immune to the virus. This fact makes him extremely valuable to the researchers trying to find a cure for the fiendish alien invading humankind’s bodies and rapidly taking over earth. But time is running out, as the aliens are now roaming the earth infecting everyone. Even Dr. Bennell has been infected, but as long as she doesn’t sleep, she will not be transformed into an alien. The human-to-alien metamorphosis can only happen during REM sleep.
During Dr. Bennell’s encounters with the aliens, she has been seeing a new man, Dr. Ben Driscoll. He is helping her avoid the mobs of aliens infecting the population. Before long, Dr. Benell’s ex-husband, Tucker (Jeremy Northam), goes through the transformation while he has her son, Oliver. Now, Dr. Bennell and her boyfriend, Dr. Driscoll, must rescue the kid before the aliens find out he is immune and kill him.
From this point on in the story, the film turns into a series of chases, car stunts, and escape gags. Kidman and Craig upgrade the script with their skillful acting, but there is not much content to sink their acting chops into – just some trite lines as they track down Oliver. He is the key to finding a cure. Once they find out why Oliver is immune they can develop an immunization serum and reverse the virus’ effect. Sure, the world will go back to its chaos and violence, but that’s better than being a walking stiff with no emotion and the intelligence of a gnat.
As for this remake’s validity as a respectable Invasion film, well it’s a cut above some of the grade B remakes we have viewed. At least they didn’t go the zombie route. It’s like the aliens had smoked some chronic weed and were stoned out of their minds. And, they talked like idealistic new age jerks. Oh well, Hollywood loves remakes, and we will see many more in the future.
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EU Critic’s Choice Awards
