Review of Annihilation (2018) by Kimberly S — 28 May 2018

I had been really looking forward to watching this movie. I'm a big SF fan, I sell modest numbers of SF books, and so few SF movies come out that seem worth catching I try not to miss the few that do. Sigh. What a disappointment! A few major flaws stood out for me:

I thought the writing was awful. The characters were undeveloped and their actions arbitrary, the pacing was so slow, and the setting and mood given far shorter shift than I expected. The film never conveyed the epic scale of the Shimmer - I wanted the thrill of of the exciting discoveries that lie in wait. Instead it was so downplayed. An alien presence on Earth lands and offers a valid existential threat, and all they do is post a few scientists to watch? I lost my enthusiasm when the movie stopped projecting any sense of wonder or awe. The characters were too flat or unlikeable to make me emotionally invested, and there was no sense of danger because it was really easy to see who'd make it out alive.

For me, the worse problem was the plot holes. Big ideas are great, I love to think big thoughts too, but I was insulted by the sheer lack of effort the production put into making sure the basic story line makes sense. Other reviewers noted most of the head-scratchers already, but if the shimmer is on the Gulf Coast, how did the very sick husband escape the... ahem ...secured facility to return to their home near Johns Hopkins? I have a hard time sinking into a movie that can't bother to build a coherent.

Plot. It feels like they filmed from a rough draft, which they didn't know how to end gracefully. Honestly, I started laughing at the dance scene, thinking of Sia and her dancing girl. Then it reminded me of the episode Midnight of Doctor Who, which explored the idea of alien mimicry in such a vastly more frightening and genuinely moving way. So much of the themes of this movie were better done somewhere else! If this movie seemed like quality deep SF to you, wow, I can suggest literally hundreds of works that are far better at exploring human themes.

I have to take issue with the idea this movie really explores major thermes. Its so ambiguous, if you squint hard enough you can see whatever you want in there, but that's the viewer working hard and being creative, not the director. Some of the most positive reviews are from really smart people who did all the intellectual heavy lifting the movie didn't bother to do.

Overall, I'd label this as SF for people who haven't already explored the.

Best of SF. There are so many better quality, deep mind-blowing works out there for you to discover!

waiting for you!