Annihilation Review

I admit, I don’t always see movies when they come out. It takes a bit of time for me to catch up with a lot of modern stuff. That’s not to say that I don’t come around to them, but it just takes a little longer than the average blog. Then again, this is not your average blog, so there’s that going for it. Today we are looking at the 2018 movie “Annihilation”, and it’s a doozy in some ways, and a dud in others.

If you go by the numbers, you’ll find that the movie flopped, and it didn’t seem to find an audience when it came out. In fact, it made roughly less than the budgeted amount, and when people saw it, they weren’t exactly thrilled with what the movie was like. I didn’t know what to expect when I came into this movie, but it seemed interesting enough.

The plot features a biologist and a team of scientists and former military personnel that go into special mission to a lighthouse that has been covered in some sort of mist. This is called the Shimmer, and the team must go in, get some samples and come out, something that no one has done before. With the sole exception of Lena’s husband Kane, who is our main protagonist.

In the Shimmer things start to unravel and our group starts to turn on one another and gets picked off one by one with nature fighting back. The team slowly dissolves and you are face to face with some mythical creatures, mutations, and much more as the movie progresses. The team also begins to lose their minds, which is an interesting trope that is common in these types of movies.

Overall, “Annihilation” is an interesting movie but I must warn you, it is a slow burn. The slow burn is broken up with some scenes of chaos and violence, but there is a lot of walking around and waiting. If you are patient, though, you’re going to get hit with some good effects, nice character acting and good overall story. I found the story to be captivating, and interesting through several chapters. The final act is a little flat, but getting there really is a ride that is worth taking. The movie features a good cast including Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez, Oscar Isaac and more. Overall, this is a good science fiction movie that fell under the radar of most, and is really worth taking time out to see it. It’s not for everyone, but for those that can appreciate a moody science fiction film, this is definitely going to be a good one to check out.