Too late, you've brought it all back!! The Spinosaurus!! Talking Velociraptors!! The cell phone gag!! Sam Neills' terrible acting compared to the first one!! Aaaargh...
Didn't they already do zombies and comedy with "Shaun of the Dead", however? Also, seeing Dylan Baker makes me wish even more that he'd had a bigger part in Spidey 3....
I also saw "The Invasion" with Nicole Kidman recently! Body Snatchers....also with a cell phone motif through THE WHOLE FILM!!! (This time it's mostly text messaging however. )
You can’t just have your characters announce how they feel! That makes me feel angry!
Yeah, it wasn't very good at all. It kinda passes the time (well, slowly) and has one or two scary moments and cool "pod people" effects (ripped off from other versions of course)
....but the script is mostly terrible. Writing is very stilted and one-dimensional (not even "action movie fun/stupid" writing) Acting is almost as bad. We jump from one scene to the next with absolutely no explanations about what's going on, nor are we ever really filled in later.
Between Nicole Kidman looking and acting like a zombie throughout the whole film,
(and she never even turns into one )
and an extremely (even more so than 28WL) preachy and heavy-handed "political" parallel.....
then a hasty resolution that leaves you scratching your head....(What, not even a twist ending?? J/K ) just didn't do it for me.
Bonus: Daniel Craig. Only worthwhile actor in this film.
You can’t just have your characters announce how they feel! That makes me feel angry!
Your first spoiler -- was it different in the original? I've never seen it, so I don't know.
Yes. MAJOR SPOILER! In the '78, (the only other one I've seen) Donald Sutherland's character is turned into one of the pod people. (well, his body dies and a carbon "pod person" replaces him) The terrifying thing is that you don't even realize it until the last minute. You think he is still human and see him wandering through the city where practically everyone has been "converted". Then one of the other main characters, a woman, who apparently didn't get replaced runs up to him all happy to see him, and there's a pause, and then he opens his mouth and shrieks this inhuman scream at her (the way other pod people do) and you realize he's been replaced!! SOOOOOO scary.
(BTW Leonard Nimoy and Jeff Goldblum both co-star in the '78 version! Sci-fi geek heaven!! )
In the 50s version (which I haven't seen but heard about) the pod people also take over and the only surviving character, a man, runs into the road and tries to get drivers to help him but no one will listen. "They're coming! They're coming!" Famous scene. They have a homage to it in the '78 version (same actor) and the new one as well (different actor.)
I also know there was a '94 version.....I never watched it though, but supposedly there is some sort of parallel to the AIDS virus.
You can’t just have your characters announce how they feel! That makes me feel angry!
From your description, its sounds kinda like The Sixth Sense, if you will. With that kind of premise though, it actually makes the remake sound cheap. Well, in a way.
Kevin McCarthy's 1950s version is the best. Pure sci-fi junkie Heaven.
You guys should see that, y'know. I agree that the end of the 70s Sutherland version works well. The 1990s take, set in a top secret military base, goes over the top and feels more like one of the first two Species movies.
I'll likely not bother with this new one until it hits TV for free.