"What Are These Idiots Doing!?!?!?"

 

Annihilation (2018) – The laws of nature are being distorted in a
strange, growing zone on Earth created by an alien presence. After
repeated failures to explore it, they sent in a new team to
understand “The Shimmer” and determine what happened to the
previous teams.

Directed by Alex Garland                     Starring: Natalie
Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez,

                                                                                     Tessa Thompson

Why I Liked It – Visually impressive

There are people in our lives who are best enjoyed
for their outer beauty, because once you get beneath the skin,
there’s not a whole lot there. That’s “Annihilation” in a
nutshell. Good cast, interesting concept, nice set of effects, but an
intellectual vacuum. This is the kind of movie where you spend most
of your time yelling at the screen “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!” A
military expedition with almost no military experience on the team.
Another team sent into the Shimmer without appearing to have learned
anything from its predecessor. Communications issue that were
predictable, but no attempt to overcome them. The lack of military
experience showing up in pretty much everything they do. They just
fight off an attack by a mutated super crocodile. So their next move?
Hop into some small boats and cruise out into the river. Seriously, I
could have run security for the team better than they did. A child
could have. It goes on and on and on.

Which is too bad, because there is some good stuff
here. The cast is solid from top to bottom. The all-female team
offers some interesting story opportunities. All the concepts
explored, of alien life and, to borrow from “Jurassic Park”, the
inescapable logic of “Life finds a way.” This could have been a
really, really good movie. Its most colossal achievement is how badly
it lets all the good stuff down. The ending is interesting and you’ll
see it coming a mile away.

Rating – ** Not Impressed