Annihilation – Interesting, high-concept sci-fi

‘Annihilation’ is certainly an interesting film.  Not just because it’s a sci-fi flick that does more than just pit humans against monsters (or some other tired and unoriginal premise), but because it also takes a snapshot of the film industry today.  Apparently, the film was released in America and didn’t do too well at the Box Office.  Therefore, it’s now been released on Netflix and suddenly it’s a hit.  This is great news for Netflix (and I guess the film company who made it?) that their film is gathering such unexpected momentum, but it does ask the question whether many companies will bother releasing films to the cinema when they do so well on the (new) small screen?

Anyway, another reason why the Netflix audience got so excited at ‘Annihilation’s arrival on their platform was that it stars Hollywood heavyweights Natalie Portman and Oscar Isaacs (and, no offense to Will Smith, but I’m guessing you could say that they’re the – current – ‘biggest’ names to ever go (almost) straight to that platform).  So why did the film end up there?

As I said, it’s science-fiction, so that already makes it a ‘niche’ genre which doesn’t always guarantee that the film will be bankable (‘Star Wars’ franchise excluded!) and it’s not all out action.  A large bubble of weirdness (known in the film as ‘the shimmer’) appears in America, swallowing up the land mass it’s landed on.  No one knows what it is, where it’s come from and every attempt to send a team in has produced no returns.  Therefore, when biologist Natalie Portman’s soldier husband (Oscar Isaacs) becomes the first and only man to return from this place, only as a shadow of his former self, she decides to become part of an all-woman team to find out what happened in there.

Now, don’t get me wrong, just because this has a few more ‘higher sci-fi concepts’ than your average action flick, doesn’t mean there aren’t the odd shoot-out or monster, so don’t worry, it’s not constant talking all the way through.  The five ladies have to use their machine guns as well as their minds in order to navigate what waits for them inside the shimmer.  That’s all I’ll say about the plot, as there are plenty of interesting moments that you may not see coming.  I’ve seen some criticism online about how it’s ‘too hard to understand.’ It’s not.  It’s actually pretty straightforward, however the ending is a little ‘interpretational’ and I couldn’t help but think of ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ when looking for a comparison.

It’s written by Alex garland, who’s most famous for his other ‘thinking’ sci-fi film ‘Ex Machina.’ I think if you enjoyed that you should appreciate this (even if they’re not much alike!).  The special effects are reasonable.  Obviously with sci-fi if you’re looking to create a world truly unlike our own, you’re going to have to employ the use of CGI.  Mostly it worked, some times it looked a little too ‘Phantom Menace’ if you know what I mean.  If you’ve seen either Natalie Portman or Oscar Isaacs in anything latterly, you’ll know their acting is top notch, so it’s always worth watching for them.  Don’t expect an action epic, but, if you’re a fan of slightly slower, more deeper science fiction then you should definitely give this one a watch – especially as now you don’t even have to queue at the multiplex to see it!

8/10 The Force is definitely strong with this one