Name: Television Review: Invasion (1997)
Item: Invasion
Rating: 20
Author: @drax

(source: tmdb.org)

Robin Cook is American writer who made his career as prolific and immensely successful author of medical thrillers. Many of those novels dealt with advanced or near-futuristic concepts (like Coma, adapted into eponymous film) that brought them on the edge of the science fiction. Cook directly crossed that boundary with his 1997 novel Invasion, which was immediately adapted into two-part television miniseries directed by Armand Mastroianni.

The plot begins when meteor shower hits Phoenix, Arizona and leaves strange black rocks on the ground. Anyone coming in contact with those rocks is hit with flu-like symptoms, but few people except Dr. Moran (played by Kim Cattral), a physician, are alarmed because illness passes very quickly. High school teacher Cassy Winthrope (played by Rebecca Gayheart), however, notices that her boyfriend Beau Stark (played by Luke Perry), who had flu, begins to act strangely, looks lost and suddenly begin to converse on the street with people he has never met before in his life. Cassie tries to find an explanation and soon, to her horror, discovers that rocks contained virus through which aliens take control over human bodies and slowly, but unstoppably, begin to conquer Earth. Cassy, Dr. Moran and few uninfected people begin the race against time to discover the antidote that would stop virus, but their chances for success appear very small.

Plot of Invasion doesn’t look very original and even the casual fan of science fiction would recognise basic idea, which was used in Invasion of the Body Snatchers. This, however, doesn’t mean that such concept can’t be handled in refreshing way, as Robert Rodriguez did with The Faculty. Scriptwriter Rockne S. O’Bannon (best known as the creator of Farscape television series) and director Armand Mastroianni, however, seem chained to the convention sof 1990s broadcast television. Nothing in the plot can surprise the audience and every event is predictable, including weak and rushed finale. Some members of the cast, like Gayheart and Jon Polito (who plays Detective Kemper), try hard to bring some life into their characters, but those efforts are usually in vain. Luke Perry appears to know that this miniseries won’t be successful, so he doesn’t try hard. The only decent thing about Invasion are the special effects, but this isn’t enough to prevent audience from feeling disappointed and this series sinking into oblivion.

RATING: 2/10 (-)