While Daniel Craig is famous for portraying James Bond in several films in the beloved franchise, he also starred in the intriguing 2007 sci-fi horror movie The Invasion. It's a loose remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the 1959 and 1978 movies based on Jack Finney's 1954 novel The Body Snatchers. However, it's possible that not many people have seen it. The Invasion may have starred big names like Daniel Craig and Nicole Kidman. But over a decade later, it's hard to say that many people remember it.
The Invasion uses the Body Snatchers sci-fi trope and follows the formula of these types of movies. While it might not offer up anything fresh and fascinating, it does tell an enjoyable story about a world dealing with a terrifying virus. What happens in The Invasion and what other movies use the Body Snatchers trope?
What Is The Invasion About?
The Invasion is about a Space Shuttle landing on Earth and bringing with it a strange entity that appears to be an alien. Tucker Kaufman (Jeremy Northman) is a CDC director who gets taken over by this entity. Dr. Ben Driscoll (Daniel Craig) and Dr. Carol Bennell (Nicole Kidman) investigate what's happening and try to save everyone. The movie has a happy ending, or at least as happy as is possible with this type of story.
While The Invasion's Rotten Tomatoes rating might not be as low as 0%, it's definitely pretty bleak. It has a 20% rating on the Tomatometer based on 164 reviews and a 40% Audience Score from over 100,000 ratings. Craig and Kidman are such accomplished, acclaimed actors, but they aren't given a chance to shine here.
While Daniel Craig's James Bond movies are more well-known than The Invasion, the sci-fi film does have some entertaining moments. It might not be totally groundbreaking or the most fascinating story that anyone has ever seen. However, it does follow the typical formula that audiences are used to seeing from a movie about people who get infected by a virus. And for the most part, it works.
According to Entertainment Weekly, The Invasion was meant to be released in August 2006, and people said that the movie didn't do well at a test screening. The publication reported that the Lilly and Lana Wachowski rewrote 30% of the screenplay. The movie also did better at the next test screening. The Wachowskis wrote and directed The Matrix, the best movie in the popular franchise.
There are many movies, like Contagion from 2011, that deal with what happens when a virus starts making people very sick. The Body Snatchers movies like The Invasion are different because a virus makes people start acting very strangely. And unlike movies that use the zombie trope, people don't turn into those types of creatures. It's fascinating watching characters who have been taken over by some unnerving being. They still look the same but start acting very differently, and it's horrible to witness. One thing is for sure, The Invasion maintains an incredibly creepy tone throughout the whole film.
What Are The Other Versions Of The Body Snatchers?
The Body Snatchers trope is common in sci-fi and there are three Body Snatchers movies. These include the 1956 film Invasion of the Body Snatchers and the 1978 remake. The first stars Dana Wynter and Kevin McCarthy and the second features Jeff Goldblum, Veronica Cartwright, Leonard Nimroy, Brooke Adams, and Donald Sutherland. The third is called Body Snatchers and was released in 1993. However, that one is pretty lackluster and not worth seeing.
While the 1956 and 1978 movies might seem dated and not at all scary now, they were definitely unnerving at the time of their release. After Invasion of the Body Snatchers came out, the phrase "pod people" became part of pop culture. While the 1956 movie was groundbreaking, people likely remember the 1978 version. This is thanks to the movie's very satisfying ending when Matthew Bennell (Donald Sutherland) points and yells at Nancy Bellicec (Veronica Cartwright). She realizes that there are no other humans left on Earth besides her and is gripped with a terrible sense of loneliness.
The 1993 version might be even less popular than The Invasion. Body Snatchers is definitely a forgotten sci-fi movie from the 1990s and didn't leave much of an impression on audiences.
When comparing the four Body Snatchers movies, most would praise the 1978 Invasion of the Body Snatchers the most. This is thanks to Donald Sutherland's performance and that compelling, memorable ending. While The Invasion might not have gotten as much attention, it's an underrated sci-fi movie from the '90s that still offers up some entertainment.