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Reviews

The Invasion

Another soulless copy

By PETER KEOUGH | August 22, 2007

1.5 Stars

VIDEO: Watch the trailer for The Invasion.

Like the alien pods at the heart of the story, adaptations of Jack Finney’s The Invasion of the Body Snatchers take on the form of the paranoias and indulgences of the age. This latest incarnation from Oliver Hirschbiegel (by way of the Wachowski brothers) also has a lot of anxiety to work with. It opens with an exploding space shuttle that spreads an alien virus. The government’s inoculation program might be causing the disease. People are turning into robotic, Mitt Romney look-alikes — including the ex of psychiatrist Carol Bennell (Nicole Kidman), who wants to grab their kid. So there’s terrorism, conspiracies, menacing, estranged husbands, and even Scientology. But the main malaise this film taps into is ersatz blockbuster moviemaking. Riddled with blatant plot cues and narrative holes, absurd jump cuts and unintentionally hilarious action sequences, The Invasion may look like a movie, but it’s just another soulless copy.

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