The Invisible (2007) User Reviews

nice

[reenis · 7/10 · 25 December 2006]

This is a remake of the Swedish movie 'Den Onsynlige' and there is no doubt that its worth your time. One of the best movies I have ever witnessed. There is little to no fear elements in the movie, but it's such a beautiful story about a ghost that it can't be ignored.

If you think you can figure this movie out by the synopsis above, think again- 'The Invisible' is a epic story about life, death and the choices you make during your time on this Earth. For such a bright film, it's quite Gothic in a sense of the irony the story evokes. In the end, what really matters is making your life worth something and taking control of it on your own- the lesson is a great one, and hopefully this movie will entertain along with inspire. Check it out if you can.

"I See Dead People Myself!!"

[Coventry · 6/10 · 15 April 2007]

This Americanized re-telling of the Swedish chiller-hit "Den Osynlige" certainly isn't a bad film, but it sadly is just a tad bit too sentimental and unmemorable. The film describes itself perfectly as "Ghost" meets "The O.C." The plot deals with supernatural themes and sincere human emotions, while the characters (and especially the soundtrack) seem to come straight out of a pretentious high-school TV series. The protagonists are all beautiful and spoilt teenagers, so it's pretty difficult to believe they're dealing with life-altering issues like murder, poetry and spiritual redemption. But nonetheless "The Invisible" remains an occasionally very engaging and fast-paced thriller, admirably translated to the screen by genre-expert David S. Goyer. Nick Powell is a popular high-school student who lives alone with his overly protective mother ever since his father passed away. When the local troubled girl Annie and her gang of youthful thugs wrongfully assume Nick told the cops about Annie's involvement in a jewelry theft, they beat him up badly and leave him for for dead in the woods. Slowly approaching the light at the end of the tunnel, Nick returns as an invisible spirit and painfully witnesses how the police investigation regarding his disappearance evolves extremely slow and frustratingly. His last and only chance is to somehow get into contact with Annie and convince her to correct her mistake with a good deed. David S. Goyer attempts – fairly successfully, I may add – to add as few fancy special effects and false scares as possible and puts the emphasis on the characters and the atmosphere. The characters of Nick and Annie clearly gain maturity throughout the story and by the end of the film, they evolved from annoying teenage brats to ... LESS annoying teenage brats. The handful of sub plots, especially the one focusing on Nick and his mother, are rather redundant and only make the wholesome even more irksome. The performances are pretty good, though. Justin Chatwin ("Taking Lives") and Margarita Levieva are terrific and actually manage to make their implausible characters convincing and at least a bit likable near the end. The obtrusive moral of the story as well as the overly melodramatic twists when reaching the film's finale are a bit difficult to cope with – especially if you're primarily a fan of horror and thrillers – but I bet other types of audiences will have tears when walking out of the theater. "The Invisible" has the same producers as "The Sixth Sense" and definitely also shares ideas and plot-aspects with that occult thriller hit. The little kid in the former saw dead people who didn't really realize they crossed the line to the other side, whereas Nick damn well realizes he's dead but there's nobody who sees him. Decent film, at least worth one viewing.

Not another pointless ghost movie.

[Jacques98 · 7/10 · 9 September 2008]

I love this movie because it isn't the same old ghost story you've come to memorize by now. Unlike the cliché disguised as a ghost flick such as The Orphanage, which critics loved, this movie broke rules. It didn't make sense, but that's what made it good. The characters were memorable, unlike the characters in The Orphanage that are so cliché they now have their own genres: Apathetic Dad, Angry Mama Bear Mom, Innocent Child That Can Do No Wrong. The Invisible doesn't use any of these clichés. It makes its own rules and then breaks its own rules. The ghosts don't revert to the same old jump-at-you-AHHH! tactics that we've all seen countless times. They actually try to be more disturbing than that, by being more realistic and not scary.

I simply don't understand the critics. They trash movies like this that actually try to be different and hail hopeless clichés like The Orphanage. I also don't understand people who do the same.

Yes, this movie could be labeled as emo, but you'll see this movie has a lot to say that you're not going to find in what the critics call "deep" movies with "moral".

It's not perfect by any means. I could sit here and name countless technical flaws with the presentation (like the opening scene), but they're lost to the fact that this movie tried to be different. I'm so stunned that something actually tried to be different anything else bad about the movie fell away.

7/10

Really good, I don't know what's with the rating on IMDb

[Smells_Like_Cheese · 7/10 · 14 November 2007]

When I saw the rating on IMDb, I wasn't too interested in seeing The Inivisible due to that, not only that, but the trailer didn't seem that interesting as well. But I had a free rental and there wasn't anything else that caught my eye and I just figured to go ahead and give this movie a look. I watched it tonite and I don't understand why there is only a 6.0 rating, I think it should be in the high 6.0 or low 7.0, I've just seen so many worse films that for some reason get a good rating on this website. Trust me, The Invisible is one this year's surprises. The plot is like a new version of Ghost, a little bit of a twist, where we show the ultimate killer, your conscience. When you do something wrong, could you stay strong enough to keep it a secret? That's what The Invisible is about.

Nick is a success at school, he gets awesome grades and has lots of friends, he's going places in his future. But when his "best friend" sells him out to a troubled girl, Annie, and puts him in a situation that has nothing to do with him, Annie takes the situation to an ultimate low and almost kills Nick. She hides his body, but Nick is still alive and his spirit is begging her to help him, she's the only one that can hear him, but his time is running out and she's having a hard time dealing with the harsh consequences.

The Invisible was a good film, I would highly recommend it. I thought that it was done well and the story was really good. The girl who played Annie was absolutely a perfect cast, I hope to see her in more movies in the future, her performance as Annie was terrific, she doesn't over do the self pity or under do it, she's just right on with the character. Her last scene with Nick actually made me cry, it was so selfless the way these two played it, their chemistry was perfect. I really liked the Invisible, hopefully people will give this movie a better chance, it deserves it.

7/10

pretty well done movie

[daniel-younger-1 · 7/10 · 27 October 2007]

The Invisible was actually something of a surprise to me. I saw the previews in theatres and thought "right, thriller, wait for DVD." so I did. And I had been told several times that it wasn't that great either.

In spite of this I rented it. I wasn't expecting much, but overall, it did pretty well. The concept was pretty interesting, the acting was actually very good.

It did have its moments of following a sort of CSI-type blueprint, and other pretty archetypical concepts of a thriller movie. It wasn't anything outstandingly original.

My biggest problem with it was the lack of subplot development. The whole relationship between him and his girlfriend was completely underdone and towards the end just faded away... It seemed too often that The Invisible was trying to string too many subplots together and ultimately just ended up grazing over most of them which is a disappointment.

But overall, it was a pretty well done move. Good Acting, good script, pretty good soundtrack as well.

And someone said something about the soundtrack being "indie"? I'm sorry, but most of those songs have experience pretty heavy radio play, and there isn't anything pretentious about putting popular music into a movie, that's a good thing.

Nice .. But Coulda Been Better

[ichocolat · 12 August 2007]

I am one of the lucky ones who watched the movie first before watching the trailer. So I don't have the same expectations as others who have watched the trailer beforehand did.

I was pleasantly surprised to watch the movie, and I think the movie was nicely done. Honestly, it was hard to crammed a 300+ pages of book into an hour and a half movie, so I was quite happy that the director was able to make the best out of it.

Justin Chatwin, who plays Nick Powell did a great job in his acting. He can convey his feelings to the audiences, and we can't stop feeling sympathy towards him. I believe he got a bright future in front of him.

I like the way that Nick's ghost is made out to be. Instead of Bruce Willis' Sixth Sense, Nick can touch objects. In one scene, he threw a book to a bookshelves, but it returned back to normal in an instance. It gave an impression that Nick thought that what he did was happening when actually nothing had happened.

However, I think the movie could be made better. The storyline was choppy at times, which seemed that the writer was unable to connect the many storyline in the movie. There were a few scenes which were absolutely unnecessary and only served to further confused the audiences.

So a score of 5/10 for this movie.

"The Sixth Sense" for the MySpace generation.

[george.schmidt · 7/10 · 30 April 2007]

THE INVISIBLE (2007) *** Justin Chatwin, Margarita Levieva, Marcia Gay Harden, Chris Marquette, Alex O'Loughlin, Callum Keith Rennie, Michelle Harrison, Ryan Kennedy, Andrew Francis, Mark Houghton, Alex Ferris. (Dir: David S. Goyer)

"The Sixth Sense" for the MySpace generation.

Nick Powell (Chatwin) is a smart, well-liked high school senior on the cusp o f graduation but all is not as well as expected for his seemingly charmed life. His beloved father's death years ago has cast a pall upon his relationship with hi smother, Diane (Harden), a cold, business oriented woman who cannot see her son's talents as a budding writer to the point of them arguing about his going to England for a fellowship to pursue his dream of becoming a real writer.

To make matters worse Nick's best friend Pete (Marquette) is being bullied by the school's delinquent-at-large Annie Newton (Levieva) and her pair of goons for payments for a black-market cell phone that leads to Nick interfering and getting on Annie's bad side.

Annie 's nasty demeanor is belied by her turbulent domestic life, her father is a washed out cop –now-rent-a-cop who has shacked up with a worthless skank after the death of her beloved mother and tries to look out for her younger brother Victor. But her criminal mind is put to its limits with her ex-con lover Marcus (O'Loughlin), who has a stash of hot items in his garage. One night on a routine car theft Annie decides to up the ante by a smash-and- grab at a ritzy jewelry shop. When she pisses off Marcus the next day he drops a dime on her causing her arrest (and humiliation) at school. Thinking it was Nick and Pete cooking up revenge she decides to settle the score by beating Nick up after his imbibing at a party. Accidentally knocking Nick cold in the backwoods Annie and her gang leave him for dead in a drainage valve.

The next morning Nick returns to school only to discover no one seems to acknowledge his presence and realizes he must be dead. Confirming his worst fears he backtracks to his home where his anguished mother and the police are trying to find him.

Nick is virtually 'invisible' to all around him but soon discovers to his horror that he is NOT dead but in a limbo state and has precious few hours left if he wants to remain alive by trying to communicate with everyone, and shaming Annie into confessing to the crime.

Based on a Swedish novel by Mats Wahl (and apparently a film as well; I'm not familiar with either), the smart and crafty screenplay by Mick Davis and Christine Roum wisely sets the metaphor for teenage life as being transparent and paralleling the in-between-worlds Nick and the basically lost-in-the-social-cracks Annie, both not being seen literally and metaphorically for who they really are. Buoyed by exceptional performances by lead Chatwin (best known as Tom Cruise's rebellious son in WAR OF THE WORLDS) and newcomer Levieva (who resembles Erika Christensen), both making their characters well-rounded teenagers and not run-of-the-mill stereotypes.

Directed by veteran screenwriter Goyer (BATMAN BEGINS) , the film mixes the drama and tension perfectly with time-ticking for Nick to get back to life and Annie to recognize for once her potential for doing something meaningful. The universal theme of teens' rights- of-passage rings true even if it is set in a supernatural setting to a certain extent; life is not meaningless no matter what.

This is not the film I saw in the trailers

[baumer · 3/10 · 23 May 2007]

I really shouldn't get this emotionally involved, but I was angry when I saw this film. This is not the film I wanted to see when the trailer broke last October. There it was in big grandiose lettering, "From the producer of Sixth Sense and the co-writer of Batman Returns." How could you not be intrigued with this team? I was lead to believe this was going to be a murder mystery about some guy trying to find out who killed him and how he was running out of time to solve that mystery. In the trailer he encounters some old man in a hospital or something, who explains to our protagonist that if he can solve the mystery of his own death, then he will come back to life. I was excited to see this movie. It was supposed to come out at around Christmas. Then something strange happened. Instead of launching it at the lucrative Christmas season, the inconspicuously and clandestinely delayed the film for four months. Instead they dumped it into theaters one week before Spiderman 3 came out and they edited the hell out of it. No longer did you have a film about a teen trying solve his own murder, you simply had a film about some kid who gets murdered. That's it. Nothing else. From there, while in ghost limbo, he follows around his murderer. Not the two male thugs who helped perpetuate the murder, but the "mysteriously" hot chick who kicks him to death. You see, she has a dark past. She is ignored and possibly abused at home. So naturally she decides the best way to compensate for this is to beat up guys twice her weight and then of course kill them. Because, you know, that's what normal disturbed kids do. They kill people. And this is just the beginning. Because now we have the "good guy" following his own murderer, and get this, once he sees her take off her hat and dance at an "E" club, she becomes illuminated to him. And then he decides that she isn't such a bad girl after all. Of course. This is the girl that KILLED YOU and because she has a nice rack, is nice to her baby brother and has had a few unfortunate bad breaks in life, you fall for her. And then at the end of the movie, it actually wants us to believe that she is the only one that can save him. She must go to his hospital room and sit next to him and then will him back to life. SIGH! The problem with this film is that it suffers from a lack of everything. It doesn't make sense and I think that is the studios fault. Maybe they screened the film for an audience and they didn't like the direction the film was going. So instead of tweaking it, they butchered it. They took the Sixth Sense element out of it and what you have left is a Steven Seagal movie with a ghost. I want to watch the movie I saw in the trailer. Where is that movie? It's out there somewhere. It has to be. They edited it to make is something terrible. How terrible.

Here are some other terrible plot points. After the guy is murdered, his best friend, who is also at the scene, doesn't go to the cops. He is too afraid of this 5'2, 98 pound girl. He just lets his best friend rot at the bottom of a sewer or something. I mean, where is the logic in this film. AT one point, it looked like they were going to introduce a twit where his best friend might have been involved. But even that went nowhere. There are literally a half dozen more plot points that were just silly beyond belief. I really struggle to understand how shoddy writing like this is allowed in Hollywood.

This film could have been so much more. The idea and concept and original trailer were very well done. The film is not.

3/10

Beautiful and Brilliant.

[fenwayconnor · 10/10 · 28 April 2007]

I walked into this movie expecting something completely different than what I got. While most people are using this as an excuse to hate this movie, It made me like it even more. The acting was excellent. Justin Chatwin and Margarita Levieva are incredibly believable and both seem to really enjoy the material. I can understand why some people would be mad. Most people were expecting the teenage horror flick. I am so glad it wasn't. There was so much depth and beauty to it. In my opinion if you didn't' like it either you didn't understand it or you are a horror obsessed teen. The soundtrack also was amazing. I loved everything about this movie. The promotion(meaning Trailers) could have been done a lot more differently and better. Still i strongly encourage this movie to those of you who love deep, thought provoking, beautiful, and emotional movies!

Promising Original Idea, Unfortunately Wasted in a Corny and Implausible Romantic Situation

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 1 August 2008]

In Burnaby, Nick Powell (Justin Chatwin) is an excellent high-school student that raises money selling homeworks and results of quizzes to his schoolmates. He aims to travel secretly London to have a course of writer and he tells his best friend is Pete Egan (Chris Marquette) that he has already bought the airplane ticket but he has not told to his mother yet. Meanwhile the punk and smalltime thief Annie Newton (Margarita Levieva) has a problem with Pete, who owes money to her. Nick pays the debts of his friend and the angry Annie attacks Nick in the messroom. In the night, Annie and her boyfriend Marcus Bohem (Alex O'Loughlin) that is in parole rob a car and Annie breaks a jewelry window and steals the exposed jewels. When Annie tells Marcus that she will not share her theft, he anonymously denounces Annie to the police. The police go to the high-school and open Annie's locker, and the girl assumes that Pete has rat her. Later Annie and her gang attack Pete and the coward teenager to protect himself tells that actually Nick has called the police; then the raged trio chases Nick and beats him to death, dumping his body in a sewer. On the next morning, Nick goes to school and finds that he is actually a spirit, invisible for people. Further, he tries to communicate with the living to find his body since he is still alive.

"The Invisible" has a promising original idea of a spirit in limbo while his body is in coma. The beginning of this movie is excellent and without clichés and developed in an adequate pace and good development of characters. However, the writer in a certain moment wastes the plot with a corny and implausible romantic situation. How could a handsome teenager that has no problem with girls fall in love for the girl that tried to kill him a couple of days ago? This dull situation really spoiled the movie since it is not believable. Pete is one of the most despicable characters I have recently seen in a movie. At least, the writer gives a decent conclusion in the end and Annie has the deserved fate. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Invisível" ("The Invisible")

All around mediocre

[rlange-3 · 3/10 · 28 February 2008]

The underlying plot is perhaps do-able if it were presented with good acting, and believable screenplay, but this one nose dives from the start and flies lazy boring circles all the way to the pathetic impact with the ground at the end. The characters are neither believable, nor well acted. There are a few designated villains, whose only role is to be villains. An uncaring mother who actually cares. Whoa, exciting stuff eh? A bad girl who is really OK, it's just that she has a tough family life. Even for bored suburban kids this is just pathetic. It's not just plot holes, but the characters themselves who are unbelievable.

One of the main characters is a boy who only seems to know how to cringe and whimper. He's supposed to be the protagonists best friend, but what really pulls or holds them together? Nothing that meets the eye in the film. He gets a little cut on his hand and falls apart. The protagonist pays his bills for him like a wimp. His Mom finds out he is flying to London and he immediately abandons his carefully laid plans without a squeak. He even throws/gives his ticket away. What a maroon.

What really cooked it for me is when he is standing there while Annie takes a shower. He isn't even looking at her. OK, fine, no problem with the idea that the audience doesn't get to see anything, but what 18 year old straight (the film seems to indicate this) male is going to stand next to a good looking young woman and not even sneak a glance. Unrealistic? Floridly unrealistic. He doesn't even appear interested.

Or how about when Annie pulls a gun on the cops and manages an impossible escape, then breaks into the school with the flick of a knife (no alarms?), and sleeps on a mat in the gymnasium. In fact, she seems to have the run of the whole set with impunity. And speaking of running and getting around with ease, how do you do that after a major gunshot wound to the abdomen? We get a sappy sound track, a sappy background story about the girl and her little brother, and a long, drawn out, uninspiring, uninteresting plot with unbelievable characters and plot holes galore. What's not to like about that? I gave it a 3.

An awesome movie

[pratikgreat · 9/10 · 24 August 2009]

The invisible is one of those movies that you walk into expecting something totally different, and the movie doesn't fail. Loosely following the theme of The Sixth Sense, the Invisible is less darker and delves into deep character study of the protagonist and the antagonist all the while providing enough twists to the plot that one hangs onto his seat anticipating the next twist. Those who couldn't appreciate this beautiful movie are either too realistic or action/horror obsessed. Justin Chatwin as Nick Powell is just awesome, portraying the frustration and desperation with finesse, extracting sympathy for the 'perfect' teenager. Margarita Levieva as Annie Newton is also fantastic as her character undergoes transformation and redemption through the course of the movie. The Invisible dares to chose a different path from the typical and comes out with flying colors. If you liked Sixth Sense, you are going to love this one.

The most disturbing and chilling movie I ever seen

[TJMBuddlake · 6/10 · 13 May 2012]

This movie may be no masterpiece but I thought it was OK. I liked the story, the cast was OK, and everything I thought was just average. I will say after what I saw, this has got to be the most disturbing and chilling movie, I have ever watched. Not to give too much away, its a pseudo murder, ghostly thriller story. Thats what got me hooked to this movie. I was literally getting chills at every moment something big was going to happen and it just stuck with me until the ending. I will say, there were some moments that I felt were weak. Then there were moments where I felt sorry and connected with some of the characters. (Thats a total different story and I don't want to talk about it.) Anyway, I wouldn't recommend this to a horror fan but for anyone that just wants to get a good chill or enjoys something along the lines of a good ghost story. I find that karma since this movie is based off a book (sorry its not Stephen King). Overall, this gets a 6 out of 10.

It was nothing what I expected- it was a lot worse.

[slynn32 · 1/10 · 30 April 2007]

This was one of the worst movies I have ever seen. There was no development of character and there were so many scenes that were irrelevant to the plot. i.e. The opening scene, though well acted and interestingly shot, had nothing to do with the main theme of the movie. At first I thought it was to illustrate how he felt invisible to create some sort of irony in the fact that he soon would be invisible, but there was nothing more about it. It was just that. The Annie character could have been a very interesting and perplexing character but became completely ruined and superficial as soon as she took off her beanie in the club scene. Which, by the way, also didn't make sense since she said she needed "a roof" then went to party and later sleep in the high school. Also, there was no basis for the male character to feel attraction for the female character except for the fact that they are opposite sexes. There was no development of a relationship. Sure, they did a good job at showing their similarities, but, no offense to anyone, I'm not going to feel sorry for someone and fall in love with a person that just killed me. What the screenplay writers and directors should have done was show more about Annie and the cause of her demise. They should have humanized her during the scenes with her little brother and not during a club scene. They should have left the beanie on and taken it off only at times the audience was supposed to feel for her. There was too much of a connection between the beanie and her "badness" and that left too quickly. There were so many subplots that were left unanswered. What about the two goons that helped her kill him? What about her boyfriend who was still alive when she left him? What about Pete, the bad best friend, and his attempted suicide? There should have been follow-up to these because a consequence is expected. Other subplots that were left untouched- her mother's death, sudden or long and drawn out? Annie's relationship with her father; did the bruises on her arm mean that he beat her? Were we supposed to infer that? Annie's father used to be a policeman; why mention he got fired and that it's "a long story" if we never get to hear it? Annie and her life was a pivotal character to the story that was left dry.

Just a few other things that irritated me: The previews did not give a true synopsis of the story line. There was no mystery to be solved. It is perfectly clear who kills him. Also, this has been compared to Ghost, or, at least, the writer's and PR people have compared it to Ghost. There is no connection, and Ghost, obviously seen through it Acadamy Award nominations, was a well written piece of fiction as opposed to this....not well written piece of fiction. Main difference, and the most important I believe, is that Demi Moore didn't kill Patrick Swayze!! This movie had such great potential and had me thinking it was going to live up to it's expectations, but it ultimately left me utterly disappointed.

Cliché's within cliché's - NOTE: SPOILERS

[doomsyer · 25 October 2007]

**** SPOILERS AHEAD ***** Man, this movie was one big cliché after another. This could have been so much better if they would have dropped the "must get a PG-13 rating" mentality and actually made it the way it needed to be made. Regardless, they put it out the way they did and here is my summary...

There once was a rich boy with a head too big for his body and an infatuation for wearing girls jeans and trendy slogan t-shirts. He writes crappy poetry and thinks he is better than everyone else. His mommy wont let him go to a poetry writers school in England, so he pouts around his birthday party and house, and saves up money to go by himself by writing French papers for dumb jocks.

His friend, a nerd, borrows money from the school heavies, which consists of two 120 pound males and a chick with a lock blade knife. They cut the nerds finger and he goes crying to the rich boy with the over-sized head. The rich boy confronts the knife carrying chick, who is 95 pounds, with 75 pounds being her hair tucked into a toboggan, making her appear like a cone head from SNL. The 95 pound chick beats his a$$.

The cone head chick steals cars and expensive jewelry by night, and makes it to school by first bell the next morning. Just like any normal crook would do, she hides the stolen jewelry in her locker. The cone head chix bfriend betrays her, the nerd boy betrays rich boy, and viola, the chick kicks rich boys a$$ again, this time with a karate kick levitating him 10 feet off of th ground. At this point, I started to realized that not only is the rich boy invisible, he is invincible, since he falls ten feet head first onto some rocks after getting k-kicked by the cone head, gets dumped shortly after head first about 15 feet into a storm drain, and then later in the movie gets dumped onto a bunch of rocks (probably head first). Maybe this is why his head is so overly huge for his body.

So, rich boy wanders the earth, invisible to all, except pigeons and the cone head chick. HE can throw stuff, break stuff, etc., but they go right back to normal. But, he can command pigeons to fly, and that is visible to everyone. Dr. Doolittle in chick pants.

After removing her toboggan, and skank dancing in slow-mo, the cone head chick tries to save the rich emo boy, and gets shot in the stomach. We now learn that she is nearly invincible also. With a bleeding profusely stomach wound, she outruns police during a high speed chase, breaks into a hospital, holds a conversation with big head boys mom, and climbs into bed with a hairy chested emo boy, who she tried to kill, and then dies.

There, the cliff notes version for this turd.

THE END

Good Movie

[thebrandroid · 7/10 · 29 April 2007]

Just got back from seeing this movie, and with all honesty i can say that i really enjoyed it! Usually i turn to the general consensus of IMDb to get a feel for movies, but don't be convinced by the majority of posters, this was a good movie. I'm not entirely sure why so many people had a problem with this film? Maybe they were upset with the their interpretation of the trailer, thinking it was something that it wasn't? I know when i saw the trailer, i thought it was going to be a "Ghost solves his own murder movie", and granted that looked cool, but now that I've seen it, I'm actually glad there was more to it than that. The Invisible was a story of a Boy who gets a chance to see the lives of people from a different point of view. I'm going to try to a state a few examples without spoiling anything. First of all I'm not saying The Invisible was inspirationally deep and meaningful. It wasn't, but it wasn't created to be. It was however, entertaining, and in some moments original. The bird scene for example, was different. The evolving relationship between Nick and Annie was, in it's own way, beautiful & thought provoking. The idea of 'spirit & body separating' was nothing new to cinema, although the interactions Nick has with his surroundings, how he imagined and experienced scenarios that weren't happening at all was entertaining. More so, the soundtrack for the Invisible was perfect. The movie was good, true to it's trailer or not. I would easily recommend this to anyone. And to anyone who has something uncreative to say (negative or positive) why don't you go ahead and create a story line, hire some actors, shoot on beautiful location's, and THEN, come in here and deconstruct someone Else's work.

Thanks to my girl, she used her "girlfriend" powers to make me see this movie.

Enjoyable but missed the mark

[budssubscriptions · 6/10 · 31 August 2011]

I was flicking between giving this a 6 or a 7 out of 10 during the film but toward the end it dropped to a 5 or a 6. I chose 6 because it was enjoyable, the acting is good as the characters are well played but the plot kind of loses its way.

Other than the main plot, it has an undercurrent theme about parent and child relationships and the effects this has on the children in teenage life; it's not in your face this theme but it is present and supports the main story well.

The main story is summed up sufficiently in the product description.

Cheers Mike

I'm sick of you and your perfect world, because it is not perfect!

[lastliberal · 7/10 · 14 February 2009]

I watched this movie just to see Margarita Levieva (Noise). I don't usually like Hollywood remakes, but since I have not seen the original (Den Onsynlige), I had nothing to compare it to.

It really captivated me: the story of betrayal and death and return as a ghost. If I had a mom (Marcia Gay Harden) like Nick's (Justin Chatwin), I'd probably want to die also.

Chatwin and Levieva were really good, as was Callum Keith Rennie (Butterfly on a Wheel) as Detective Larson.

I was on the edge of my seat hoping for a miracle, and that is what I got.

Stunningly Bad

[jimmygeekrock · 1/10 · 27 April 2008]

I'm used to viewer ratings being inflated on IMDb. So used to it, that I tend to take them with a grain of salt. And THE INVISIBLE should be regarded as the poster child for inflation.

I write this review not to reinforce the lower tier ones this movie has received, but to warn unsuspecting viewers. Stay away. Stay far away. This is a movie that is inept on so many levels that I was literally stunned.

Let's start with the script, which has already been dissected here in detail. These kids were such cardboard figures that their dialog was laugh inducing. Every sequence featured some ridiculously over the top line, as if the viewers needed to be pummeled into "believing" in these stereotypes. My favorite moment? The poetry reading that is supposed to demonstrate how the main character's gentle soul is somehow transcendent. He's nervous to read it in front of his high school class, but the teacher insists (hoping to wipe away the memory of a peer's previous adolescent work). Relucatantly, he begins to read. The music swells. We know the kids are digging it, because they stop talking and lean forward. The music swells some more as classmate after classmate are won over by his genius. It's a pivotal moment in the film, as it demonstrates for the first time the conflict between Nick and his distant mother - how he wants to go to writing school in London, but is thwarted by a mother who (seemingly) doesn't believe in his talent.

What's the problem? Did anyone who gave this movie a good review actually listen to the drivel that came out? Nick's "poetic brilliance" sounded like bad emo band lyrics. And the crime becomes that his poetry is revisited throughout the film, each time becoming more annoying. More laughable. By the time he was reading the lines over his mother's shoulder, everyone in the room with me was in stitches.

It's hard to believe that the director penned BATMAN RETURNS. You'd think he's have an ear for realistic dialog. Instead, he seemed intent on proving he could use every camera move known to man to breathe life into this cliché-riddled excuse for a story. Witness the opening shot. It's like Orson Welles dropped by.

The lesson? When all else fails - when logic is thrown to the four winds and even a five minute crane shot is not enough - don't despair. Just fill very transition in the film's second half with painful emo music. Have each emotion underlined by brain numbing lyrics the equal of the brain numbing script.

Sorry to be so harsh. If this was an independent picture I might have given it a couple stars for the cinematography and acting. But this was a major Hollywood production with major Hollywood money. All we are left with is commercial exploitation: the producers seem to have bet that the preteen audience would be too self absorbed to recognize the clichés and bad execution. Given some of the reviews here, maybe they were right.

Really Great

[Juicygirl789 · 9/10 · 3 May 2007]

Despite all the bad reviews on here, I went to see "The Invisible" and I was not disappointed. I really loved the underlying drama and self discovery the movie relayed throughout the story. It made you feel for both the victim and the villain and feel their pain and sacrifices. It went past the usual story line of romance and macho heros, but looked deeper. And above that, my friends and I loved the main character :) He is very good looking. Apparently the other reviewers don't have the ability to see past explosions and fake fights in films to see the depth portrayed in this movie. Definitely give this one a try. It made my day and made me think very hard about life. Not to sound too cheesy...

A dark portrait of what it is to be human

[Zyndra · 7/10 · 16 June 2010]

THE INVISIBLE is one of those movies which will leave the audience divided. There is no question about it, the movie has its flaws. The story could be more elaborate and the dialog and acting better. Still "The Invisible" will stay in the back of your mind.

The strengths of the movie is its perfectly executed soundtrack, how it portraits family relations and the interesting characters of "Nick" played by Justing Chatwin and "Annie" played by Margarita Levieva.

If you're looking for a action packed thriller/drama then this is not a movie for you. If you're looking for a beautiful portrait of what people are capable of in their darkest hour, set to a soundtrack that will give you goosebumps, then watch this movie.

Disjointed and unsatisfying

[fertilecelluloid · 4/10 · 15 July 2007]

David Goyer's "The Invisible", a remake of a film I have not yet seen, and a rip-off of Hiroshi Teshigahara's "Pitfall", kicks off with an interesting premise that it does not remain faithful to. A young student is murdered by a trio of arrogant classmates with pseudo-cynical attitudes. After they bury him in the woods, he rises from his own damaged body and walks amongst them as an invisible man. We see him, but they don't. This guy can't communicate with them or interact with material objects (at least not initially), but he can hang about and eavesdrop on their screwed-up lives. Obviously, he learns why he was killed , and he eventually gets to see some justice. The problem with this premise is that our hero does not drive the story. He witnesses it. Because he can't be heard or seen, he's an observer who comments on what's happening. His commentary is not without interest, but after the forty-five minute mark, the premise collapses. Goyer must have thought so, too, because he starts breaking the rules he's established. Some characters become aware of our hero's existence, and some characters start to hear him. As the authorities get closer to solving his "murder", there's a murky understanding that this is why our hero is becoming more visible. In the end, it doesn't work. The film's first half hour is hypnotic, and I felt sure that I was in for a treat, but the set-up bites off more than its third act can chew, and the result is a very disjointed, unsatisfying experience.

I see a lot more than just movie in this one...

[ajpdaddy · 10/10 · 19 July 2008]

This movie represents a lot of the transition of bad to good that happens in this world. More than any of us imagine the bad people that try and ruin this world every day are destroying the innocence and greatness of things good people do. So often shrouded are the deeds of those who once found it easy to do bad and decide that their path is ill fated and they turn their lives around for the better. Looking at this movies surface, it scratches the idea of hope and teases at the idea that good deeds can be performed by those who have led lives of misfortune and displacement. My experience...I was up late one night and was fiddling through the Starz' movie channels when I saw the title , "The Invisible".Reluctant to watch, because it already started I opted to give it a try. I didn't recognize any of the names in the movie and saw that it came out in 2007 so I gave it 10mins of preview time. The second I saw the character, Annie Newton, and realized what was going on with her and Nick I was drawn in. The director does an excellent job in implementing the difference of emotions and levels of the caste system that is high school. Starting the movie more than 20mins in I was able to follow with ease gladly adjusting to the changes in the story and characters. At the end I was happy for one character but rooting for both as I hoped their chemistry and new found understanding of each other would overcome all. For right now, this movie single handedly gives me hope for other late night discoveries and am looking forward to such.

a different kind of movie

[Saving_Private_Nyan · 7/10 · 29 July 2010]

when i first saw the trailer for invisible i thought it was going to be a thriller/mystery movie.i was wrong.but i liked it.the first thing i noticed about invisible was that the soundtrack and the movie really matched with each other.some of the scenes were really beautiful. justin chatwin as nick did a great job.in my opinion hes one of the most underrated actors of our generation.rest of the cast was amazing too.it wasn't thrilling or funny,but it wasn't boring to me.the main appeal of this movie to me was acting and dialogs.the invisible is not a great movie,but its a good movie with good acting and a nice story about lonely people.it had its flaws yes,including below average special effects,but that didn't ruin the movie for me my rating 7/10.

Totally misleading trailer, and the movie would still be bad regardless...

[Bluesnfire401 · 1/10 · 30 April 2007]

This movie was a big disappointment for a number of reasons. As iterated in other comments, the trailer contains footage and story elements that are entirely absent from the film itself (i.e. the old man in the hospital gown telling the protagonist he has a limited amount of time to solve his own murder). Although this IN ITSELF doesn't make it a bad film, I think it's symptomatic of a much deeper problem, namely, it doesn't seem like anybody working on this film had a really solid and cohesive sense of what the film was about or how all the parts fit together. The trailer footage being absent from the film is evidence to me that the film was just sort of thrown together haphazardly and without any thought. This is potently felt while watching it. Also, as noted by other reviewers, the characters were totally one dimensional, surfacey, and straight up archetypes completely lacking in any development, depth, or uniqueness. To me, it seems like a really bad indie film that somehow got a lot of funding and made it into the mainstream market: we have the poetry writing, leather messenger bag carrying, road-bike riding protagonist who wants to be a writer (shocking!) and of course the corresponding mother who is obsessed with making her son into an upstanding, upper-class citizen and just doesn't get him. And we have the token "indie" soundtrack to complement our protagonist's adventure. In fact, the movie struck me as little more than a forum with which to showcase the filmmaker's knowledge of cool "indie" bands. I feel like I can't really make any comment on the acting because, honestly, I can't imagine any actors or actresses who would be able to give this film the animation and depth that it so sorely lacks. In short, save your money and your time, and don't see it. If you're just really curious and have to see it, rent it once it comes out on video. I admit, the trailer looked awesome and you can't blame anyone for wanting to see it based on that. But the fact is that the movie just doesn't live up (in quality...or even in basic plot!) to the trailer.