The Invasion is a 2007 American science fiction horror film directed by Oliver Hirschbiegelnote and starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig. It follows a Washington, D.C. psychiatrist (Kidman) who finds those around her turning into emotionless beings shortly after a major space shuttle crash.
The third remake of the sci-fi classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956). Amongst many other changes, they dropped the idea of alien replacements entirely, going for a simple version of The Virus. It also worked in The War on Terror and, with it, questions regarding The Evils of Free Will. For the other remakes, go here.
This version provides examples of:
- 20 Minutes into the Future: America has already built a new advanced space shuttle, something that can't be said for real world America.
- Adaptation Title Change: The title was shortened from the original film's Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
- Benevolent Alien Invasion: Oddly, the film reveals things are better when everyone is controlled by alien parasites. They may have less emotion, but world peace breaks out and America finally passes universal healthcare. After the cure is dispersed, things go back to normal. Near the beginning, a Russian diplomat lampshades it by saying that imagining a world without these evils requires one where people are no longer human. It makes you wonder who to root for. Even the main character appears to be uncertain in the last scene.
- Covered in Gunge: Victims of the invasion often find themselves like this when they wake up.
- Creepy Child: Two of Oliver's friends. Both were infected by the virus.
- Easily Thwarted Alien Invasion: The Mind Controlling viral aliens had, in a matter of three or four days, infiltrated most of the Washington population and (going by the Shuttle debris pattern) must have had agents all over the US and the world, painting a scenario where humanity will inevitably fall no matter what it does. But, the heroes discover that some people who had a rare kind of bacterial infection in the brain were resistant to their virus, and in a matter of hours after delivering one such person had created a Magic Antidote which they delivered to everyone infected via dispersing it in the air. The film concludes with a near Reset Button, one character points out that we might never find and cure all infected individuals, but notes that we are in control of the planet because there are still wars.
- The Evils of Free Will: This is discussed in the film, and actually implied to be true. After the aliens take over, they don't actually do anything bad (aside from the control itself, or lessened emotions), but established world peace and universal healthcare. The cure restores things to normal (i.e. all that goes away), and the film leaves it open whether this is really good.
- How We Got Here: The film opens with Carol raiding a drug store, trying to find things to stay awake, before cutting to the space shuttle disaster.
- Kick the Dog: It's not clear what would be so bad about the new world order that's taking shape, until it's made clear that anyone not affected by the change would be executed, rather than simply kept out of positions of influence and allowed to live out their lives.
- Mama Bear: Carol, who goes through all sorts of hell to save her son Oliver. Including beating her (infected) ex-husband to death for trying to attack Oliver, and later guns down several infected civilians to protect her child before rushing to a helipad with Oliver in her arms.Carol: No! Stand down! [holding a pistol] No one touches my child!
- Product Placement:
- Barely a minute into the film, Carol takes a load of pep pills and downs them with a two liter bottle of Mountain Dew.
- At one point, Oliver and his friend can be seen playing PSPs, with the camera focused on Oliver playing Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters.
- Puppeteer Parasite: The Pod People are changed to this, being microbial organisms rather than the duplicating plant-things of earlier films.
- Remake Cameo: Veronica Cartwright, who was in the 1978 film, has a small role here.
- Stock Footage: The film opens with the new space shuttle Patriot burning up on reentry. What follows is news footage of the Columbia disaster.
- The Virus: People are infected, not outright killed and replaced. It still causes a pod people transformation when the victim sleeps, though.
