The Invasion (first Review)

The Invasion Film Review

My first filmfriday recommendation, sorry it is so late but been really busy but finally I got round to re-watching it and I can start writing this review. The film I started with is not a blockbuster and it's not a "must-see" its just an enjoyable film that I think asks a few questions. The movie I'm reviewing is "The Invasion". For those who haven't seen this movie, it is based on the the novel by Jack Finney, The Body Snatchers. I have not read this book so i cannot compare it to the film but to be honest i don't think that people should compare films to books anyway because what makes a good book will not always be what makes a good film. "The Invasion" is set in modern day and is centralized around a psychiatrist called Carol Bennel (Nicole Kidman) and her best friend Ben Driscoll (Daniel Craig), these two characters are trying to survive an outbreak of a deadly alien virus that takes over the mind of the people it infects, pretty much making the human race very sophisticated zombies.
In this story Nicole Kidman plays a desperate mother who wants to track down her son and protect him no matter the cost, and even though I'm not a great fan of Nicole Kidman after she was below par in "Batman Forever" and only average in "The Others", I must say that she was impressive in this film. She was very good at portraying her inner emotions on screen, I could almost tell what her character was thinking, this made the story a little bit more believable which is difficult considering the premise is ridiculous. Her supporting actor, Daniel Craig, was only OK nothing special. Daniel Craig has a tendency to go from being brilliant (The Girl With Dragon Tattoo) to being average (Every thing else hes done), we know he can act it just appears he's a little lazy on screen, but that's just my opinion, i know he has a lot of fans out there who would disagree.
So the acting is OK, good in places but the main reason I enjoyed this movie and would watch it again is because the direction is top notch. The director of this film was Oliver Hirschbiegel, now I don't know a lot about this director all i know is he is German and he has made a lot of German films, however i have not seen any so i don't know whether he's a good director generally or if this was just a well directed film. But oh well in this film he was good, he built up the tension and suspense well and kept me on the edge of my seat. There are a few cheap jump scares but only one or two, personally I think jump scares are a bit cheap if over used (Woman in Black) but they are used to good effect in this film. I also like some of the styles he uses to tell a story, for example in places where a character would be saying something on screen there would be time jumps and images of different events, i found it quite an interesting quirk to add to the film. I also liked how the contrast in colours gets more and more vivid the longer the main character goes without sleep (major plot to movie) its not a big thing but i like the small details in films.
As a film overall there is nothing much wrong with it, the ending feels a little forced and rushed to try and tie up ALL the loose ends and there are some plot holes but you really shouldn't go into this film expecting a masterpiece or for it to be perfect because its not, However it is interesting and gripping which is what it aimed to do, there are some moral questions asked towards the end which i think give it some depth. But i know some people won't enjoy it and even if u don't please come back next week where i will review another film, probably a much better one to be honest i just wanted to start with something different and not so mainstream.

I may also put a review out tomorrow of "Oz the Great and Powerful" but you may have to wait until Sunday for that. Anyway thank you for reading and please tell your friends if you enjoyed my review or found it helpful and please comment if u watched the film and want to tell me your opinion.