The Frame

I was truly expecting the worst from this one, after the horrific reviews it got on release. Folks, it is not that bad. Certainly it’s no classic like the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but it’s a perfectly acceptable little thriller to kill a few hours with. The basic storyline is similar to the original – aliens land and start taking over the bodies of humans, turning them into emotionless husks that otherwise seem the same as ever. Kidman’s ex-husband Jeremy Northam is one of the turned, and he tries to get her to join him; she spends the rest of the movie trying to get herself and her son to safety. There’s a good mix of intense and quiet moments, and I’m not at all sure where the charge of incomprehensibility that a lot of reviewers made comes from, because everything made perfect sense. Apparently they need to watch Made in USA. Or, like, Pirates of the Caribbean 3. Anyway, the moral/ethic dilemma introduced is that supposedly if the alien beings won, there wouldn’t be any more conflict or war, which is introduced by emotion and passion (a similar theme to 2002’s Equilibrium) – the question left open at the end is which is better, peace or freedom. Normally I’m not a huge fan when remakes stick on moral quandries, but this time it works, mostly because these are the sorts of questions that classic sci-fi used to ask before sci-fi turned into mere alien-hunting action.
Above Average