The Invisible, a film offering from the producers of The Sixth Sense and co-writer of Batman Begins, is an aptly named movie…as many of the things that make a movie work are just that–invisible!
Lured by an interesting premise and an intriguing trailer, Mary and I braved the 5:30 p.m. Friday crowd (the fact that only about 7 of us were there should have tipped me off as to the buzz the film was generating) in the hopes of seeing a suspenseful film. What we got for our $9 ticket price was the equivalent of a Lifetime Network movie. What follows is a spoiler-laden conversation, because quite frankly this movie was rotten. You can thank me later.
The premise of The Invisible is this: On the verge of graduating from high school, Nick, a spoiled rich boy/disaffected young man, is brutally murdered by an equally disaffected, troubled young woman and her wanna-be gang members. Nick wakes up the next morning and strolls into school only to discover that no one can see him. The events of the previous evening come rushing back along with the realization that he is in some sort of limbo. In what is a very cool scene of the film Nick soon discovers that he is actually not dead, but is dying. Knowing he has a limited time left before he actually dies, Nick struggles to make contact with the few living people who know where his body lies–those who beat him and left him for dead.
The trouble with this film begins with the trailer. The film advertised in the trailer is not the film that you see at the theatre. Not by a long shot. Significant scenes in the trailer are not present in the film. What is worse is that the story promised in the trailer is not the story in the film. One of the descriptions of the film’s plot is: “Now in limbo, his only chance to live again is to find out the mystery of what happened to him and why before his time runs out. But how do you solve a murder when the victim is you?” Sounds intriguing, right? If that had been the film it probably would have been pretty good. The reality is that both you, the audience, and Nick know exactly what happen to him. We see him murdered. We see who did it. We see why they did it. And Nick remembers all this immediately upon realizing that he is dead. So where is the mystery? The mystery is how this film ever got made in the first place.
What was most disappointing about The Invisible is that it had moments of brilliance. There were some very well written scenes in the film. There were some very interestingly bizarre film angles and cinematography choices. There were moments of very good acting. The soundtrack was fantastic. But that is it. The film is utterly and completely schizophrenic. It looks and feels as if it was both written and filmed by several different people, each taking turns passing the script and then the camera around to do their part of the story: sort of a chain-letter approach to film making. Had they been able to take the more odd and interesting moments and made the entire film that way this would have been a cult-hit like Donnie Darko. Instead it was no better than a made-for-tv movie. Most of the acting was very wooden. All of the characters were both one-dimensional and so thin that they themselves were practically invisible. The change of heart scene with the lead female character was totally unbelievable and implausible. This film was a mess.
Let me give you one specific example. Nick was killed just off the road on the edge of the woods and then his body was dragged further into the woods and dumped into a sewer. The police quickly located signs of a struggle once it was determined that Nick was missing. A massive search turned up his watch, found mere feet from where his body was dumped. As evening descended it was obvious that the search would continue. Common sense would dictate that the area where the watch was found would be crawling with police. The logic of this movie, however, was different. The very next day the lead female character’s criminal boyfriend drug one of the accomplices out to the site to move the body. Was anyone around to stop them? Of course not. A little later the girl shows up, now convinced (through very sloppy writing) that Nick is alive, only to find the body has been moved. Any police or searchers around? No way. That alone was ridiculous enough for me to realize the movie was going to stink long before the closing credits rolled. It was illogical in the extreme.
The biggest disappointment of this experience for me was not that I wasted the money and time to see it, but that even the most amateur screenwriter could have come up with a better story than this. The few moments of brilliance reveal what this film could have been instead of what it turned out to be: invisible.
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All is not lost, however. I got $9 worth of excitement out of the trailers. Here’s what I saw on the big screen and what you need to check out immediately:
As you may know, I was one of the ones who fell on the ‘love it’ side of the second Pirates film, and this one looks even better.
and
The first one was one of the best zombie films I’ve ever seen. The sequel looks equally entertaining.
and finally, more zombie goodness:
RESIDENT EVIL: EXTINCTION (no movie poster available)
The teaser trailer for this one looks fun as well. I enjoyed both of the other ones and still consider them among the best of game-to-film adaptations.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Bummer, there’s nothing worse then blowing the bucks to see a movie and have it totally be a disappointment. (I’m waiting for Harry Potter myself!.. and Pirates!)
You can say one person did their job right… the “trailer guy”.. after all… he did get you to go see the movie!
Yes he did. That was the biggest piece of false advertising that I have seen in a long time. Although I cannot entirely blame the person making the trailer. My understanding is that often this is farmed out to another company and they work with the material given to them. I imagine the scenes that were cut from the film were done after the trailer had been cut together.
That stinks. I was looking forward to this one. Glad I learned from your experience! I won’t waste my money!
You almost make it sound bad enough that I’d like to watch it š
I really must get around to watching the 28 weeks film, we have it on dvd.
If you can see it for free, Fence, it probably wouldn’t be quite so bad….probably…
I saw the trailer once, and it seemed much more promising than what you described. I’m sorry to hear it was such a stinker.
Oh, you lucky duck to see the preview of POTC3 on the big screen! Funny…I saw an ad on tv last night for The Invisible and thought it sounded interesting…thanks for saving me $10 š
Thanks for the savings…I was hesitant about that one. Looked like it could go either way.
I’m kind of nervous about 28 weeks later. I loved 28 days later! One of my favorite films. I’m nervous because this one isn’t directed by Danny Boyle and doesn’t star Cillian Murphy which was a perfect combo. I just have to remember it’s a different movie. I still haven’t seen the trailer though. Guess I should do that before I judge it :p
I love the Resident Evil movies! They’re so much fun and Milla Jovovich is smokin hot!
Oh, I am so sorry I recommended this. The trailer did look intriguing. . Thank you for giving me a glimpse of Johnny Depp in return, however.
Don’t worry Pat, you only pointed out that the movie was coming out. It was the trailer that sold me on going. Not your fault.
good to get a heads up on that one as I’d probably have paid to go see it too. Now Resident Evil…that’s a bad movie I am more than willing to pay for, just to see Milla Jovovich on the big screen š
Ok that does sound dire.
On a brighter note – mmmm, more Johnny Depp in eyeliner. Yes please.
And, a sequel to 28 Days Later? Like Chris, I’m a bit concerned. 28 Days Later is a brilliant film, I hope this one doesn’t suck.
If you’d like a movie with a similar (but much better-executed, I think) premise, may I recommend D.O.A.? Classic noir, in which a man discovers he’s been poisoned and tries to find out who did it and why before he dies. There are some giggle – inducing bits, to be sure…this movie was made with a rather imperfect understanding of how radioactive materials affect people, for instance…but the Boy and I had a lot of fun with it in all its vintagey glory.
More Pirates! Squee! …But that’ll be the last one…alas. I always feel that the big screen really needs more swashbuckling on it.
The Resident Evil films and I have a strange relationship because of the games. I’ve played, or watched, all of them, and so on seeing the first movie was quite annoyed to find that exactly none of the characters we knew and loved from the games were going to be in it. In the second film they compounded their error by putting people like Jill Valentine IN – but relegating them to a secondary role behind their new character. Oh well. At least Nemesis was sort of the way he should be. š
I think the best (in the sense of “the truest”) game – to – movie adaptation to date is Silent Hill. This is both a good and a bad thing, as Silent Hill is SO weird that unless you know the games…the movie will probably mean nothing to you. Some day, someone somewhere will make a game adaptation that’ll please both fans of the games and the general public, but it’ll take a very skilled hand indeed, I think. š
Anyway, enough rambling, it’s brunch time! See you!
I’d disagree on the Silent Hill point, several of us went to see it together when it came out and none of us had played the games and we all really enjoyed it. So much so that I actually bought a cheap copy of it this weekend.
The Res. Evil movies are more fun for me probably because I haven’t played the games, thus I’ve enjoyed the heck out of each one.
D.O.A is great, and one that I haven’t seen in a loooong time.
ah! That’s excellent news – someone who didn’t play the games liked Silent Hill! (Proving that there will always be those who Get It – whatever It is – anywhere. :))
I love the Resident Evil games but wasn’t overly keen on the first movie. Then, I did see it when I had a splitting migraine, so….
Silent Hill – I LOVE the games, but have not seen the movie yet. Will have to rectify that situation.
From what I remember about how loud and grinding the music was in the theatre when James and I saw Resident Evil, I can only imagine that watching it with any kind of headache, much less a migraine, would dampen one’s enjoyment of the experience.
Glad I could help restore a little faith in humanity for you RB. š
I never have played the Silent Hill game but I thought the movie was a lot fun. very moody and creepy.
Hmm, I don’t remember it being the music. When I have a migraine I can’t have quiet – my own “head noise” drives me insane. I think it was more that I just wasn’t in a great mood for it.
Bummer that Invisible was horrid. I was hoping it’d be a good thriller. We saw “Fracture” this weekend and that was enjoyable. I don’t know what I think about 28 Weeks later…. I think I’ll wait for your review š I did like 28 Days Later but I’m a bit bummed out that the sequel doesn’t have anyone from the original movie. I’m always suspicious of that. ha,ha…
I kind of like to think that the three in the other film lived ‘happily ever after’, so I’m glad that they aren’t back in the sequel because it looks like bad things are gonna happen to those folks…very bad things.
Thinking about it, I agree there Carl.
The Pirates 3 movie looks just as fun as the first two and I can’t wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wait a minute, a movie that Carl actually disliked?! Whaaa?
I’m pumped for Pirates and 28 Weeks. I agree with you, 28 Days Later was fantastic. I also really liked the remake of Dawn of the Dead (by Snyder who did your beloved 300).
Hard to believe, eh Rob? What may shock you even more was that I saw Children of Men this weekend as well and didn’t really like it either. Not to say that there weren’t some fantastic things about it, as there were, but it felt incomplete and was quite a let down.
Actually I generally don’t even bother to post reviews on movies I don’t like…Eragorn being one of the more recent ones I can recall…but since this one was so new I thought it my civic duty to warn people away.
I personally really liked this movie.
I’m sure others did too, Jordan. It just had a lot of problems for me. If I were to watch it again now with a different mindset I might feel differently about the film.