Review of Annihilation (2018) by Matthew D — 28 May 2018

An underwhelming sci-fi story.

Annihilation is very well filmed by director Alex Garland. I found myself in awe at the scope and thought put into the scenery, flora, and fauna designs. The colorful world of The Shimmer is very creative and intriguing. The cinematography gives you beautiful closeups, serene panning shots, lovely natural scenery, and a pleasant brightness to Annihilation's look. However the story is very basic and not all that engaging. I doubt most audiences will enjoy the movie.

I found myself bored throughout by the tremendously slow pace of Annihilation. It lingers on unimportant shots and feels longer than its run time unfortunately. The simple plot and endless exposition yield dull results despite the interesting premise. I wish the script focused more on either the human drama, science aspect, or the horror elements. It feels like several genres mixed together for an unbalanced experience. I did not buy the emotional impact, I was underwhelmed by the science-fiction narrative, and I was not scared by the horror sequences. Annihilation feels like it does not know what it wants to be sadly.

I thoroughly enjoyed the acting however. Natalie Portman makes for a compelling lead character. She emotes quite well despite the underwritten script. Tessa Thompson was my other favorite side character. She is very expressive and subtle in her acting. I liked Jennifer Jason Leigh as the dejected team leader with a cold disposition. I honestly did not care for Gina Rodriguez in her role. She overacts a bit too much for my taste. Tuva Novotny was a nice supporting figure with a few neat lines. She is largely underutilized like Thompson in Annihilation. Overall, Annihilation features strong performances, but underdeveloped characters.

Musically, the movie is attempting to appear more atmospheric. In other words, there is little to no music leaving you bored in the quiet and not haunting environment within The Shimmer. I liked the strange alien theme creeping underneath the finale, but otherwise, Annihilation has no memorable score.

To conclude, I wish I liked Annihilation more than I did. It is slow, underwritten, underscored, and not as atmospheric as it wants to be. I think it should have focused in on a particular genre rather than bending to reach multiple styles. The acting is pretty great despite the one note characters. Alex Garland directed a nice film, but a lackluster movie.