FILM: BODY SNATCHERS

by Melissa de Leon The whole point of Body Snatchers was to go beyond the traditional science fiction portrayal of the conflict between man and technology. It did not focus on an invasion by a superior power, but rather on the fact that apathy and conformity lead to the decay of morality and freedom. Furthermore, the choice of a common suburban or traditional American community as the setting was intended to instill distrust and fear towards our very own neighborhoods. Ferrara tries to update the evil invasion of society by radioactive pods that have infiltrated a military base in the '90s, but he ruins the essence of the original film. He retains the basic structure of the invasion, which begins when some toxic material is found in an army base that is believed to be causing people to have paranoid delusions. The officials hire a chemist to analyze the goop. He brings his new wife along with seventeen-year-old daughter and seven-year-old son. The young son is the only one aware of strange behavior from his day care pupils and can't convince his family to get out of the compound. It is frustrating to see the little tyke try to be the normalizing force when he has no power to do anything. In the original film the strength of the story relied on the exchanges between the characters, but in this remake, there is no collective realization of the invasion or the pod society. People run amok in their mindless state with no apparent purpose. The movie is slow-moving and boring, and the lack of interaction between characters makes it very hard to ponder any real meaning behind their plight. They are trying to escape and betray each other continuously until only a brave few remain. It all ends in a pyrotechnical razing of the military compound, ^ la Red Dawn, and by then it is just a relief to be able to get up and leave the theater. The third time is no charm when it comes to Ferrara's Body Snatchers.