Movie Review: The Invasion
May. 23rd, 2010 07:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
catalyst2I avoid movies with Nicole Kidman in like the plague but I gave this one a try. I shouldn't have.
Now I could mention things like casting Kidman as person who has to pose as an emotionless drone in order to survive was casting genius - but I won't ..... Hell, who am I kidding, that's exactly what I'm going to talk about. There's a scene where Kidman is sprinting down an alley in fear of her life, just seconds away from apprehension and then she runs into a public space where she needs to put on the "frozen" clone face - and it's EXACTLY the same as her running-away-terrified face. Later on she realises that her partner has been "converted" and reacts in horror - and it's EXACTLY the same as her running-away-terrified face.
And this is the issue - Kidman absolutely has to carry the movie and show fine nuances of emotion and she just can't physically. She cries, she screams, she fights, she threatens, she whimpers - and it's EXACTLY the same as her running-away-terrified face. Now, don't get me wrong, there is a moment in the movie where she's framed in a golden light and I think she has the most drop-dead gorgeous face on the planet - but it is frozen. Given that this movie is, at least in part about identity and emotion, it is disaster for the movie.
Overall, an ordinary movie because of a lead actress who can't carry the part.
Now I could mention things like casting Kidman as person who has to pose as an emotionless drone in order to survive was casting genius - but I won't ..... Hell, who am I kidding, that's exactly what I'm going to talk about. There's a scene where Kidman is sprinting down an alley in fear of her life, just seconds away from apprehension and then she runs into a public space where she needs to put on the "frozen" clone face - and it's EXACTLY the same as her running-away-terrified face. Later on she realises that her partner has been "converted" and reacts in horror - and it's EXACTLY the same as her running-away-terrified face.
And this is the issue - Kidman absolutely has to carry the movie and show fine nuances of emotion and she just can't physically. She cries, she screams, she fights, she threatens, she whimpers - and it's EXACTLY the same as her running-away-terrified face. Now, don't get me wrong, there is a moment in the movie where she's framed in a golden light and I think she has the most drop-dead gorgeous face on the planet - but it is frozen. Given that this movie is, at least in part about identity and emotion, it is disaster for the movie.
Overall, an ordinary movie because of a lead actress who can't carry the part.
