The trailer to The Invisible promises so much! It's slick and sparks the imagination with scenes of ghosts, mystery, emotional drama, and taut suspense. The words "From the producers of The Sixth Sense and the writer of Batman Begins" are flashed across the screen in flaming letters, and we think "Gee, I gotta see that!". Don't believe the trailer.
The Invisible tells the story of Nick Powell (Justin Chatwin), a popular teenager who has it all but is beaten unconscious and left for dead by the school bully, Annie (newcomer Margarita Levieva). But Nick is not dead,
instead he is trapped in a strange limbo between the worlds of the living and the deceased. No one can see him, no one can hear him. His "spirit" moves freely in the land of the living, yet he is invisible to the world. Now his only hope at returning to his life is to lead somebody to his near-lifeless body before it is too late.That's not easy when the one person who can help you needs saving herself.
The Invisible is based on a 2002 Swedish movie called Den Osynlige, based on a Swedish book by Mats Wahl. Its directed by David Goyer, creator of the "Blade" franchise (he directed "Blade: Trinity), and writer of "Batman Begins". And its produced by Neal Edelstein and Mike Macari, who were responsible for bringing the brilliant Japanese horror film "The Ring" to Hollywood. And I think that may be what lets The Invisible down... Hollywood. It seems to me that Hollywood doesn't like creepy movies. Well, maybe they just have a different idea of creepy to the rest of us. Sure, Gore Verbinski's version of The Ring was scary, but my God, have you seen the Japanese version? And the same goes for "The Grudge". What scared the poo out of me in Japan just didn't have the same effect with Sarah Michelle Geller. Hollywood is good at toning things down and giving everything a light and fluffy "breakfast cereal" moral. Yet watching The Invisible is a bit like taking a big mouthful of cardboard. And chewing it for 2 hours. The only invisible thing I could see (or should that be couldn't see?) in this film was character development. I tried to care about these characters. I really tried. But they were like tepid bath water, not warming, not refreshing, just old and pre-used. How do they make the villain of the story become someone the audience cares about? Well, they tell us that her mother walked out and left her, and they give her a cutsie-pie All American little brother to tug at people's heartstrings. Suddenly its OK that she's a murderer, cos she's had a hard up-bringing! If this is true, we are going to see some pretty interesting dramas on TV before long. The Gilmour Girls with guns and knives perhaps?
Film making is a visual art, and The Invisible is sometimes stylish, but more often looked like "CSI: Miami" (which isn't surprising as the Production Designer is Carlos Barbosa, who also worked on that show). The whole concept of "visual" is sometimes lost by David Goyer. Scenes which should be told visually are explained by the characters, and when we need something explained to us, we are left wondering and confused - I'm told that, in order to "get" the ending, you really have to "watch" the film. Well, I watched. And I'm still confused. The soundtrack is solid, although at times loud and overpowering, but doesn't actually enhance the story or the characters. It seems whole scenes were created just so a certain track could be played. If I wanted to watch music videos, I'd watch MTV.
Oh dear. It seems I haven't said anything good about this film in this review. But don't worry, there IS one good thing. The trailer.I suggest you watch the trailer and then spend the evening imagining the Gilmour Girls with guns. It'll certainly be more enjoyable than The Invisible.
