For most of the crowd who arrived at the theatre expecting a fast paced, high intensity movie, The Invasion delivered.

At the start of The Invasion, a space shuttle crashes to the ground in a successful entry of the earth?s atmosphere. After the crash, government agencies notice that an unknown organism grows on the shuttle.

This alien goo invades the human body and infects people in their sleep. As this virus starts taking over the population of the world, the American government attempts to keep the news of this pandemic away from the public.

As the contaminated population grows, psychologist Carol Bennell (Nicole Kidman) and her friend Ben Driscoll (Daniel Craig) begin noticing a change in many people. Those infected appear drone-like and only want to further spread the virus.

With the help of Driscoll and one of his colleagues, Bennell is able to find the truth, almost too easily, about the virus. As they begin to grasp a better understanding, Bennell learns that her son is immune to the strange infection (without this vital piece of information, the movie would have been pointless).

If Bennell can get her son to a secure lab they can find a way to make a vaccine. How they manage to find enough resources and manpower for a quarantined lab is unknown.

As Bennell tries to rescue her son from her infected husband, she herself is given the virus, to which she is immune to as long as she stays awake. She, with the help of Driscoll and his colleague, tries to get her son to the safe lab.

Director Oliver Hirschbiegel did a fairly good job on his first major motion picture. This movie was also impressive as the third big screen re-make of The Invasion of the Body Snatchers, penned by Jack Finney. Movie remakes with the same basic plotline often become worn out, but Hirschbiegel made the plot fresh and non-redundant.

However, a few unneeded side plots, such as the main characters visiting Driscoll?s infected friend for unknown reasons, disrupt the flow of the film. A few jumpy camera shots with confusing intentions also distract from the plot.

Another reason this movie falls short of expectations is the fact that characters obtain essential information too easily. The quarantined laboratory, one of the key plotlines, appears without much explanation. It is never clarified how they managed to find a ?safe lab? in a world almost completely overrun by infected humans.

Despite a few holes in the plot, The Invasion is slightly more than the average, sci-fi horror flick. There are no little green men running around and attacking people, as seen in M. Night Shyamalan’s Signs. An intense, fast-paced plot, car chases backed by impressive special effects, and suspense-filled scenes help make this movie moderately entertaining. Without the action sequences, the hour and a half spent in the theatre would feel pointless.

While this movie is not filled with constant action, the creators of The Invasion replace unnecessary violence with suspenseful sequences.

The Invasion is now playing nationwide and is rated PG-13 for violence, disturbing images and terror. Parents should be strongly cautioned. For more information on the movie rating system visit the MPAA website. For show times, visit Fandango.

For more reviews, visit Rotten Tomatoes.