People on the web these days seem to complain about
Hollywood movies quite a lot. Not enough roles for women. Not enough
minorities. The movies are so stupid they cause viewers to lose IQ points with each passing minute.
Well fret not dear reader, our savior is here. Annihilation
is the answer to all these problems and more, so surely it will be a smashing
success, right?
Oh, wait…Nobody saw it.
Annihilation is a riveting, genre bending, sci-fi
survival/body horror film that is, to be blunt, fucking excellent. It follows
five female scientists (All well developed characters, and of different racial backgrounds no less, how's that for
Strong Female CharactersTM) who journey into a mysterious bubble
that’s been designated a no-go zone in order to figure out just what the hell
is going on in there, and what they are made to confront is something truly
staggering. A force that takes all aspects of nature: plants, animals, humans,
and even the laws of physics, and violently transforms them into something
unrecognizable and alien, something that challenges every conventional view of our
existence. It’s vintage body horror ideas played out on a massive ecological
scale.
Credit goes to writer/director Alex Garland and his team for
managing to balance ideas, exposition, mood, and narrative much better here
than in his previous effort Ex Machina (which suffered a bit from the
all-to-common “let’s stop the movie dead and explain basic science to people” type
of exposition dump), as well as for the brilliant technical fireworks and pure
aesthetic pleasure that comes with this movie. The environments and world are
rich and beautifully rendered, imaginative and full of color, and brought to
life with expert sound design. Not to mention the last 45 or so minutes, which
are an overwhelming audio/visual spectacle that kept me in a state of low-grade
euphoria.
Credit also goes to producer Scott Rudin, who saw he had a
gem on his hands and used his final cut powers to have it released as the
director intended.
The other producers, who essentially paid to have the movie
buried, can all go fuck themselves.
Annihilation is clever, unique, well made, and at times
downright spectacular. The fact that anyone would try to shelve this is
baffling to me. It’s a film that begs to be seen in theaters, but unfortunately
it’s long gone by now. So do yourself a favor when Annihilation reaches
Netflix: find the biggest screen you can, in the darkest room you know of, with
the loudest sound system you can get your hands on, and watch this movie.
Rating: Shiny and Chrome
~ G
P.S. - Annihilation isn't perfect. Its main problems come from some clunky dialogue, or otherwise difficult dialogue delivered in a clunky manner. This is less of an issue later on, as the final third or so of the film has very little talking.
