Review of Annihilation (2018) by David I — 16 Mar 2018

Annihilation on the surface sounds more violent than it actually is but there are some gore moments like when a woman with a lot of feminine angst takes a machine gun and blows away a giant mutant alligator. Let me tell you if you are ever wondering whether Natalie Portman can handle a machine gun I can answer you the affirmative yes and it is quite cool.

Make no mistake, it's an Estrogen pumped film, and with a strong-willed female protagonist that perhaps could win an Oscar as well. Natalie Portman's performance is outstanding and supporting characters did a good job as well. Some of the characters go psycho but I guess that's to be expected when you encounter too many flowers and rainbows.

This all-lady team sent out to achieve success 'where no man has gone before' (and achieved success) didn't end too well. They go out to the danger zone to solve the mystery and things take a turn for the worse. The five women collectively hit menopause at the same time on a 'very bad day', and meet stressors such as a Mutant Aligator and Giant Bear with a skull head. This and many other unfortunate events remind us that Dorothy is not in Kansas anymore.

The visuals were outstanding. Complete with rainbow anamorphic flares, this scifi film was a visual treat and something different and more interesting than the most recent scifi films. Natalie's CG alter ego is taller than her, I get that everyone wants to be taller but this was a bit much, Natalie is a 'shortie'. The special effects of the alter ego were done well and obviously very high budget. The set design was overwhelmingly cool. Very creative flowers and foliage really added to the environment and feel of the film.

Overall I'd say it's good storytelling and the film kept my attention which is sometimes difficult to do with adult ADHD onset so early, so 4 out of 5 stars for an engaging film.