After his internationally acclaimed hits “Das Experiment” and “Der Untergang”, it was finally time for Oliver Hirschbiegel to make the jump to Hollywood – where they gave him pretty much everything a newcomer could want: For “invasionHe was given an $80 million budget, superstars Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig, and Jack Finney’s legendary sci-fi novel “The Body Snatchers”. But then things went wrong…
Because the producing studio Warner Bros. was anything but enthusiastic about the first draft submitted – apparently Hirschbiegel had framed the action in such a way that the studio executives simply lacked the fantastical elements usually associated with a sci-fi blockbuster in this price category. To change that, extensive reshoots were planned – with James McTeigue (“V For Vendetta”) directing and “Matrix” masterminds Lana & Lilly Wachowski handling the script adjustments.
A huge cinema flop
But none of that helped. “Invasion” grossed a paltry $40 million worldwide when it opened in theaters – and also got mostly hard slating (at the film has only 19 percent positive reviews). But at least you can take a no-obligation look at Tele5 tonight at no extra cost – because the down-to-earth tone of the alien invasion thriller is quite extraordinary.
The plot of “Invasion”: After an alien crash lands in the American Midwest, everyone who touched the alien undergoes a subtle change in behavior. Psychiatrist Carol Benell (Nicole Kidman) is one of the first to notice the changes. Together with scientist Ben Driscoll (Daniel Craig), she begins to investigate the phenomenon – and comes across suspicious traces in the brains of some of her patients…
Is “Invasion” really that bad?
As already indicated above: “Invasion” is in any case not your average science fiction film, but tries to do something unique – which does not really succeed. Whether the unadulterated version of Oliver Hirschbiegel was the better film (even if it was not suitable for a blockbuster) is of course difficult to judge in retrospect. In any case, we didn’t fully bread “Invasion” for that reason, but gave it 2.5 stars out of 5 – with the following conclusion:
“After a strong start, the sci-fi thriller continues to decline. The template, direction and cast are excellent, but the screenplay and suspense are weak. The result is characterized by Hirschbiegel’s tendency to depict events as realistically and mundanely as possible. But above all, a science fiction film thrives on its fantastic, unreal elements, which are sometimes sadly missing here.”