The Invisible

TheCentralScrutinizer · 11 Oct 07 :: 01:35

OK, I HATE that review.

1) It gives the movie credit for being much smarter than it actually is.
2) It suggests leaving the "peripheral" characters out all together. Bye-bye Chris.
3) It compares this thing to the brilliant, remarkable The Sixth Sense --- to which it cannot hold a candle.

Illinoisguy1 · 11 Oct 07 :: 08:55

Home Theater Forum review.

The Invisible
Directed by David S. Goyer
Studio: Hollywood
Year: 2007
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 anamorphic
Running Time: 102 minutes
Rating: PG-13
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 English, French, 2.0 Spanish
Subtitles: SDH, French, Spanish
MSRP: $29.99
Release Date: October 16, 2007
Review Date: October 10, 2007

The Film
2.5/5
Those who have been pining for more teen dramas filled with angst will find their hearts' desire with The Invisible. For all others, beware. David S. Goyer's Americanized remake of a Swedish film (based on a novel) is a mawkish experience: melodramatic, hazily plotted (with a confused mythology that never rings true), and irritatingly unmoving despite the herculean efforts everyone involved is making to wring tears from our eyes. If misty eyes were indeed their goal, they failed miserably with me.
Sensitive high school writing scholar Nick Powell (Justin Chatwin) is beaten and left for dead deep in the woods by a gang of school toughs who mistakenly believe he ratted out to the police the ringleader's jewelry store holdup the previous night. In a state of limbo between life and death, Nick's spirit wanders around the town trying to get someone to listen to his pleas for help, but only the ringleader who landed the final, near-fatal kick seems to be able to tune in to Nick's spiritual wavelength, and the ringleader just isn't feeling magnanimous.
Sounds trite, doesn't it? It is, and though writers Mick Davis and Christine Roum have made a gutsy move by having the ringleader be the school's toughest girl, the experiment doesn't work. I didn't buy for a second that this junior-sized Ma Barker (played by Margarita Levieva) could beat up or intimidate anyone (including facing off with her burly father). In ludicrous fashion she masterminds a jewelry store robbery on the spur of the moment, outruns and outthinks cops on at least two separate occasions, breaks into both the school (for a quick shower and some sleep) and Nick's home with just her trusty pocket knife (amazing there were no alarms anywhere, no night watchmen at the school), and roughs up her tough ex-con boy friend (Alex O'Loughlin, a far cry from his current role as a vampire detective on CBS' Moonlight). On top of that, she's a crack shot with a pistol, and when that ski cap comes off and her luxurious hair billows around her head and shoulders, she could be on the next cover of Vogue. Bonnie Parker, move over!
Some scenes do have some punch. A climactic rescue effort near the end, for example, is handled by director Goyer with some effectively rising tension, and there's a graceful opening dream sequence that moves well. But he doesn't get the best out of Oscar-winner Marcia Gay Harden who plays Nick's hardened mother or the detective on the case played by Callum Keith Rennie. And as for the two leads, neither Chatwin nor Levieva do charismatic work though the writing with its absurd plotting and eye-rolling lapses in logic is probably more to blame. I'm not sure any actor could have brought any degree of believability to this ghostly mess.

Video Quality
3/5
The film's 2.35:1 aspect ratio is presented in anamorphic video on this DVD transfer. Quality issues are all over the map with this title. Sharpness varies considerably throughout the running time, and color is likewise variable from realistic to overly hot with brownish skin tones. The color in long shots sometimes seems smeared, and there is considerable edge enhancement on display. There is also flashing and some aliasing in fine line structures in several places during the movie. The film has been divided into 16 chapters.
Audio Quality
4/5
The Dolby Digital 5.1 track makes good use of the available channels. The rears are most often used for music (there are many Dawson's Creek moments where pop songs wail up in the background to comment on the on-screen action). LFE can be deep, and the rears get a workout late in the film at a dam whose gates have been opened.
Special Features
3/5
The DVD features two separate audio commentaries. In the first, director David Goyer and co-writer Christine Roum take a scene by scene approach in their interesting discussion about making the film and the ways in which it differs from the Swedish original. In the second (unnecessary) commentary track co-writer Mick Davis' Scottish brogue only occasionally chimes in to comment about what we're seeing (or going to see) in a scene adding nothing that hasn't been covered in the first commentary.
Two different music videos are offered, both in nonanamorphic letterbox. The 5-minute "The Kill" is performed by 30 Seconds to Mars while "Taking Back Control" (the better of the two offerings) is sung by Sparta with interwoven film clips lasting 3½ minutes.
Eleven deleted scenes, all in anamorphic widescreen and running 13½ minutes, are also included and may have director commentary turned on or off. The scenes present a fix-up date subplot dropped from the film as well as some other moments with characters whose actions slowed down the film's pace or repeated information already established.
Trailers for upcoming Buena Vista releases such as Ratatouille, Lost - Season 3, Wild Hogs, Becoming Jane, among others, are provided. There is no trailer for The Invisible on this DVD though it has been featured on many recent Buena Vista releases.

In Conclusion
2.5/5 (not an average)
Made by the producers of The Sixth Sense, The Invisible goes to the spectral well once too often. While not a truly terrible film, it's a disappointing attempt at a teen fantasy drama that simply misses the mark.

deedee · 11 Oct 07 :: 15:33

deleted scenes.. 11 of them:O i cant wait for this

domesticelefant · 11 Oct 07 :: 18:18

11 deleted scenes? Wow! I wanna see this!

magicalturkey · 12 Oct 07 :: 00:47

I just went on netflix and this was at the top of my recommendation list. I'm on the edge of adding it to my list or not...

TheCentralScrutinizer · 12 Oct 07 :: 01:15

It's worth a look. Especially with the deleted scenes. I didn't hate it. I was just very disappointed at how Chris's part got mangled.

TeeJay · 12 Oct 07 :: 08:39

Of how the whole movie got mangled, more like...

-TeeJay

TheCentralScrutinizer · 12 Oct 07 :: 15:41

Yeah, but if it was kinda lame but still had tons of Chris in it, I would not have been half as disappointed.

domesticelefant · 12 Oct 07 :: 21:32

The German DVD is available on amazon.de, but I am not going to spend 25 bucks on it. No way, sorry. Going to wait until it's cheaper.

TeeJay · 15 Oct 07 :: 19:43

I messaged someone on Facebook who runs a TI fanclub there and asked if he knew in how many of the extras Chris is in. I got this reply:

from memory, i can recall two extra scenes .... one is where he steals nick's money and another where the police come to his house and he runs away but the cops catch him and interrogate him at the police station

-TeeJay

TheCentralScrutinizer · 15 Oct 07 :: 19:44

It's a start.

domesticelefant · 15 Oct 07 :: 19:47

You're on Facebook?

TeeJay · 15 Oct 07 :: 19:56

Yeah, I was dragged there. Can't say I use it much, so don't count on me participating there. But then again, I used to say that about MySpace too. I'm not gonna start getting into another one of those "interact with your friends" sites, though, I'm happy with checking my MySpace every day for now.

-TeeJay

domesticelefant · 15 Oct 07 :: 20:01

LOL, that's why I didn't join Facebook.

TeeJay · 15 Oct 07 :: 20:21

They have an Adam Rove appreciation group. Of course I had to join. It has 56 members. Maybe I can bring some over.

-TeeJay

domesticelefant · 15 Oct 07 :: 20:37

What? LOL
Now I am thinking of joining too.

TheCentralScrutinizer · 15 Oct 07 :: 21:13

Yeah, that's kinda cool.

magicalturkey · 15 Oct 07 :: 22:21

TeeJay wrote:

They have an Adam Rove appreciation group. Of course I had to join. It has 56 members. Maybe I can bring some over.
-TeeJay

I want to join just for that...

TeeJay · 15 Oct 07 :: 22:29

I have a feeling the group is kinda dead, though. I posted something, it might take a week or two until someone replies. Posting here is WAY more fun! At least here I know people are alive and talkative.

-TeeJay

magicalturkey · 15 Oct 07 :: 22:31

I just joined and was about to comment to your post, but what I would have said would be pointless to you

TeeJay · 15 Oct 07 :: 22:53

Oh, hey, say whatever you like, maybe some of the other users will love it more than me.

-TeeJay

domesticelefant · 16 Oct 07 :: 19:58

Kinda like the cgm community on livejournal, huh?

TheCentralScrutinizer · 17 Oct 07 :: 01:27

Rented the DVD on the way home. The running time is listed as 102 minutes, which means they put back 4 minutes of deleted stuff apparently. I'll let you guys know how it turns out. I'm not sure I'll get to watch it all tonight with new TV and all, but I'll watch it as soon as I can.

herrommance · 17 Oct 07 :: 13:58

So I bought this yesterday. Suprizingly I loved it, and not just for Chris. It was sad that alot of his scenes were delted. Justin was really good in it too.

TheCentralScrutinizer · 17 Oct 07 :: 16:00

I rented it and started rewatching it last night but didn't finish. I had something else on my mind and I just couldn't concentrate. I'll have to finish it tonight so I can take it back to Blockbuster tomorrow. Can't wait to see those deleted scenes. Don't spoil them for me.

Chris Marquette Message Board

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#558 12 Oct 07 :: 15:41

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#559 12 Oct 07 :: 21:32

Re: The Invisible

#560 15 Oct 07 :: 19:43

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#561 15 Oct 07 :: 19:44

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#562 15 Oct 07 :: 19:47

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#563 15 Oct 07 :: 19:56

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#564 15 Oct 07 :: 20:01

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#565 15 Oct 07 :: 20:21

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#566 15 Oct 07 :: 20:37

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#567 15 Oct 07 :: 21:13

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#568 15 Oct 07 :: 22:21

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#569 15 Oct 07 :: 22:29

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#572 16 Oct 07 :: 19:58

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#573 17 Oct 07 :: 01:27

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