Colibel Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Celine Roz Let me tell this right off the bat. 'Invasion' is not a GREAT show. Rather, it was the "almost" great show that could have been a lot more if the writing had been a bit tighter and ABC had managed the show better.Secondly, Invasion is not your normal sci-fic show. It focuses on how people's lives are affected by a calamity and not the calamity itself; which kind of suits my taste so there you for sci-fi fans: this may not really be your cup of tea.Writer/Creator Shaun Cassidy really had something going here. I liked the premise of this show and the fact that it concentrated on the human angle rather than the science part of it all. Popular opinion is that it took off a little slow but I think otherwise. Sure, it was not a LOUD beginning, but it was not exactly boring and for sure, it was not misleading: it set the tone perfectly well. For me, it was in the middle that the writers lost their way a little (but the episode "Redemption" which if I remember was bang in the middle of the season was wonderful), but they managed to get the juice back in it towards the end. Although I am in the camp of those reviewers who felt the characters sometimes spend too much time talking! The scrip of many episodes could have been tighter and a little more action would have helped.As for the acting - this one is a mixed bag. Eddie Cibrian as the 'nominal' lead Russel Varon - the all American good guy - was well, good but boring. There wasn't a lot more that he could do though his scenes with William Fichtner often left his acting skills less than flattered. But this is television and the acting meter is never expected to go to the red zone.There was a lot of good in this show. Tyler Labine as Dave Groves and Alexis Dziena as Kira Underlay were pretty convincing in their roles. While Nathan Baesel as the lovable Lewis Sirk was surprisingly delightful. There was some bad acting as well. Lisa Sheridan as Larkin Groves was just irritating for the most part. Elizabeth Moss as the crazy Christina wasn't very good either. But it is Evan Peters who plays the incredibly stupid and ill-written character Jesse Varon who takes the cake when it comes to the worst thing about the show. Terrible character; terrible acting.Saving the best for the last, Kari Matchett as Dr. Mariel Underlay was simply brilliant. I have never seen her before but I sure will look forward to seeing more of her work; as the confused, loving but strong- willed mother of three married to the most creepy guy in town, Matchett shines. She brings a lot of mystery but a whole lot more of sympathy to her character.However, the best thing about Invasion was without doubt, William Fichtner as the Tom Underlay. He was the reason I started watching Invasion and the mysterious Sheriff is the biggest reason to watch this show and trust me, Fichtner delivers big time - like he does pretty much every time in front of a camera, be it a film or TV series. I don't get tired of saying this: this guy is one hell of an actor and he stands out so much when he acts with TV actors who are so much inferior (look up Prison Break for example). Somehow, Fichtner gets the best roles even if they aren't the regular, normal leads - the guy who intrigues you and doesn't fall into the 'good' or the 'bad'. Don't we all love those morally ambiguous characters!He has a terrific on-screen personality, a crookedly attractive face that is not conventionally handsome but gives him a unique edge on screen. Plus, he is exceptionally expressive and very skilled an actor of course. Underlay carried this show on his shoulders and they really had a great character going here, one that could have become a cult figure in modern day TV had they given it more time/seasons. A special mention about the extraordinary background score by Jon Ehrlich and Jason Derlatka. Fichtner apart, the bes thing about the series. I would pay to buy that music disk. All said and done, Invasion was a good enough show to deserve that and from what I hear, in spite of ABC's catastrophic management of its airing time, it still averaged almost 10mil viewers! ABC really dropped a ball here; to think they had silly shows running on 4 mil after dropping this one! I would have watched season two of Invasion for sure, if they had made it.That said, often season 2 is the big problem for most dramas. With Invasion, we will never know and at least we were spared of a possible disappointment. But still, that cliff-hanger ending was a real turn-off. Not a must-watch unless you are a Fichtner fan (and you haven't seen nothing if u are one but hasn't seen this show). But for everyone else, give it a try still; it is a good show that really could have been a lot more.

primacag-219-477782 The story is good, its just too bad that the script has to resort to all the soap opera tricks to get it over. Invasion is full of the following...."I need to talk to you....." "I don't have time right now"...This is a tired plot device. Also features...."I don't trust you" "We can't tell anyone just yet" " I need you to come with me right now" "I'm not sure that this strange thing is really strange" "I just want my kids to be protected" "I don't want my kids bothered by this" "Daddy doesn't really love me" "Wow you've changed since the event"This kind of writing treats the audience as stupid. Real people don't distrust each other like this. Real people know each other much better than this. People don't get off work like this. Real people don't go in the water if they know it can change them. Real people don't ignore what is going on around them.The story is interesting from a science point of view, but assumes so low a level of social and mental development in the characters that it is difficult to listen to, let alone watch some of the episodes.

cryoteck OK first, this review contains MEGA SPOILERS! I give Invasion a 2 out of 10 just because the idea could have been great. But like so many other shows got completely screwed up.Here's the big problem :Basically some sort of alien stingray in the water grabs people then uses tentacles to copy the DNA, and then (This is the part that all the characters in the show don't GET?!?) ... after copying the DNA.....IT KILLS THEM!!!!!! Then goes on to make a copy and that's what walks out of the water and gets back in the city.Even at one point the teenage girl wants to become like them, and her dad now knowing that basically it means that she will get KILLED and whatever comes back is not her, doesn't even tell her that little piece of information, that would probably make her go : "OH, didn't know that, guess I won't do it then.And there lies the problem, no one ever actually point the fact that these thing in the water don't CHANGE you, they KILL YOU!Even the last episodes, after knowing everything, the guy takes the wife of the other guy that's been shot, and brings her to the water to have her come back to life?!?! SHE WILL GET KILLED ANYWAYS, so why not let her die on land.You know what that reminds me of? PET SEMETARY!!!!Remember how the old man says to the father : "SOMETIMES DEAD IS BETTAR!" but there he goes and does it anyways. Even after it went so well with his cat. And then at the end, does it again with his wife!This show could have been good, if only they made the characters not so stupid in believing that the people or HYBRIDS they called them are not the people they knew. They are copies and their relatives or friends were KILLED.nuff said....

scipioUofR This is another one of those sci-fi series I've gotten on Netflix--along with Firefly, The 4400, Enterprise, and the Lost Room--that I absolutely loved and couldn't get the DVDs in fast enough to watch before I'd be waiting for the next one.This was a variation of old "body snatchers" sci-fi scenario, with a very good delivery of the story, good acting, and subtle nuances unique to the series. The mood was morose and slow-paced at times, which may bore some people, or may remind them of Stanley Kubrick and paint vivid still pictures of the unfolding semi-tragic scenario.Let me say right off the bat that William Fichtner's portrayal of Sheriff Underlay cannot be overpraised, and he really steals the show from the ostensible All-American hero played by Eddie Cibran. The show and had unexpected depth for a prime-time show in portraying the Sheriff Underlay's "Anti-Villain" character, someone pursuing good but compelled to effect evil by his own ambition, overwhelming responsibility and the impossible circumstances in which he finds himself. (Think of Agammemnon or Anikin Skywalker). Also a nice touch was Fichtner's broad head/wide-eye socket appearance that had a subtle fish-like quality."Invasion" was no exception to "body snatcher" sci-fi story containing portraying modern archetypes and latent social fears. Among them are various governmental agencies that are ubiquitous and meta-powerful in the setting of the series, both a source of support and an agency of control and intrusion. Another theme, in the aftermath of a hurricane, is modern society's inability to cope with assaults by natural forces, be they meteorological events or the passion and crusading aggression of a predatory "people". Throughout the series there is a point where the protagonists learn a way to keep the "hybrids" from thriving, but which would involve violence, violation of moral imperatives, and destruction to their community and loved ones. The result is a Hamletesque moral vacillation in the face of an existential threat to humanity until the threat is too large and pervasive. Alternatively, a more "liberal" view of the theme is the struggle of an established class in society to view the intrusion of outsiders--or insiders who have changed into outsiders--when their arrival may not be as big of a threat as they thought.One can't help comparing the events to the modern conflict with radical Islam or other viral ideologies, as during the 1940-60s Cold War era conflicts with fascism/communism, when these types of themes in science fiction were also popular. You can chalk "Invasion" up as typical of the post-9/11 "malevolent universe" sci-fi, where aliens have gone from being cute, cuddly friendly creatures to being a threatening presence whose motives and actions are questioned and feared."Invasion" will also go down as a show canceled before it's time, too sophisticated and niched for the broad audience that it's budget required, doomed with Firefly and Arrested Development to be an incomplete cult-classic.