Infected

Infected (2008)

This is a pretty typical alien invasion movie. This time around we follow a couple of reporters who have a past with each other. Lisa and Ben used to be together, but now Lisa doesn’t like Ben anymore. Of course all that changes when they uncover a conspiracy where aliens are using bottled water to prepare human beings as the perfect incubators for their young! Luckily that guy from the Breakfast Club is a good alien and shows up to help them. Although he ends up getting killed and nothing they were planning ever actually happens, he still tells them how the stop the aliens. Again I was a bit confused when Lisa and Ben ignore that information and decide to drive around the country blowing up bottled water plants. Did I mention that Ben is poison to the aliens because of his DNA? So that is pretty much the plot of the movie.

Of course after reading my plot synopsis it might seem that I hated the movie, but I really didn’t. The truth is that Infected is a generic sci-fi movie that isn’t a bad way to kill an hour and a half. While there is nothing new here and I was able to predict pretty much everything that happened, including which supporting characters were secretly alien spies, I wasn’t ever bored with the movie. This is the sort of thing that I would normally watch to kill an evening when I really didn’t want to have to pay too much attention to what was going on. While the cast is utterly forgettable they don’t do a bad job in their roles. Like the story the characters and performances all seem pretty generic and uninspired. The only half way interesting performance is Judd Nelson, who plays the good alien. His delivery is sort of a cross between a confused child and a robot. Basically he snaps off some dialogue and then looks bewildered at the camera for a few seconds. Not great but kind of interesting and very funny for the brief time we get to see him on screen. Also I though it kind of funny that many of the extras with lines had noticeable accents that gave them away as being our neighbors to the north where the movie was shot.

The effects sort of fit the rest of the movie and aren’t very special (see I made a funny!). We don’t get to see much of the aliens outside of their human skins, and when we do we are treated to CGI bug creatures that are poorly rendered, interact awkwardly with the environment, and honestly look silly. But to be honest whether they intended it or not I got a few laughs out of the effects. So there is some fun to be had there. Though I could have really done without the stupid looking CGI blood and bullet hits. The camera work and lighting are mediocre. I mean this is a low budget sci-fi flick shot in Canada and honestly it looks like it.

The DVD is bare bones and lacks any special features. Bottom line is unless you can pick this one up on the cheap I don’t recommend purchasing it. This isn’t the kind of movie that most of us will want to watch more than once. That said I think it is worth a rental if you have an evening you want to kill. Trust me I’ve seen much worse ways to spend your time.

2 out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer