The Invasion: Grade B

B
The Invasion (2007)
Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig. Director Oliver Herschbiegel.

In this third remake of the 1956 classic, Kidman is a Washington, DC psychiatrist and Craig is a physician. The invaders come as spores on the space shuttle and spread through bodily fluids. But even after you have been infected the transformation doesn’t “take” until you fall asleep. Kidman starts to notice patients and friends who are “not themselves.” It’s ambiguous, because there is nothing unusual about these people unless you knew them well. They are not the easily identifiable zombies of the original movie. After a while the aliens dispense with stealth and just start killing humans who betray their uninfected status by showing emotion. The aliens argue persuasively (and with feeling!) that a world without emotion is better. Kidman and Craig race around town pursued by alien zombies, trying to get an antidote before Kidman, who is infected, falls asleep. Whereas the original movie is generally interpreted as reflecting McCarthyism and fear of communist infiltration, this version expresses fear of an AIDS-like global pandemic, called “flu” in the movie, and also fear of totalitarian government (the aliens go for the police and government officials first – an odd choice). The moral dilemma, whether humankind would be better off without its “animal” passions, is displayed, but not examined. The story is more campy than a serious exploration of any idea. It is a well-done film, although I miss the big green pods. Both Kidman and Craig turn in good acting. I am mystified by Kidman’s boob job, which is prominently on display. Why would such a talented actor with such a beautiful face do that to herself? Maybe she is an alien.

Ever Since the World Ended: Grade A

A

Ever Since the World Ended (2006)

Unknown actors; Writer and co-director Calum Grant. Co director Joshua Litle.

An unnamed virus wiped out most of the world’s population a dozen years ago, and this is a documentary film interviewing the few survivors. There are only 186 people left in San Francisco (all middle-class white except for one Native American). The idea is to explore today’s society by imagining what it would be like without the population density and our social, technical, and economic infrastructures. How do communities get along without police and judges, for example? A small amount of electricity is available from storage batteries taken from millions of useless vehicles. Food comes from fishing and hunting, but oddly, not agriculture. What would education, religion, recreation be like? The movie does an adequate job of exploring these topics and it could be used in a high school social studies course to stimulate discussion. Unfortunately, the overall message is depressing. It seems that not a single intellectual survived the plague, so the story has dim-witted people doing and saying dim-witted things. Maybe that’s how it would be, who knows? The acting is so good, it is hard to believe the interviews are scripted. They are utterly believable and a pleasure to watch.