The Invasion (2007, USA)

I'm a sucker for any Body Snatchers movie. The 70's version is my favorite, followed closely by the original, and I've even seen the mediocre 90's one a couple of times, despite my hatred of Abel Ferrara. But this latest version is incredibly dumb - so little of The Invasion makes sense that one could think it was written by a bright ten-year-old. Incomprehensible science babble, a jumbled timeline that removes most of the tension from the proceedings, and a heroine whose face is so immobilized by Botox injections that it's pretty hilarious when she has to fake having no emotions. It's also particularly heavy-handed when it comes to moralizing - Kidman's character is a therapist who wishes that everyone could just get along, and there are pretty constant references to Iraq and other global conflicts. It's a mess of a film, not even remotely worthy of its predecessors. Nice Veronica Cartwright bit, though. Too bad she didn't get to scream this time around.