Annihilation: Review

From the ages of about 11 to 16 my favourite genre was dystopian sci-fi fantasy. Part of this was due to being introduced to the hugely popular Hunger Games series.

Over time I've become a less enamoured with these angst-filled films about how a small group of insanely attractive people are going to save society from themselves.

Maybe it's because the real world is feeling a bit more apocalyptic these days. More likely, it's because I'm fed up of the kind of "cookie cutter" characters and deadpan acting these films constantly use.

There's only so much "blue steel" I can take from a supposedly incredibly serious character before I stop taking them seriously. There's only so many speeches on the state of humanity I can take, no-matter how relevant the message.

That being said, I went into Annihilation quite optimistic. I'd seen images and clips online and the premise looked interesting. It was female led, the special effects looked creepy and very well done. I thought, this might be the film that re-ignites that love of sci-fi fantasy.

However, when the film ended I felt deflated.

There were elements of it that I loved but there were also a LOT of reminders why I'd gone off this genre in the first place.

1. What I liked

Annihilation is about micro-biology professor and former soldier Lena, played by Natalie Portman. After 12 months with no word from her husband who also serves in the military, Lena assumes the worst until he mysteriously turns up unannounced at their home and he is not himself. After he starts to throw-up blood, Lena calls an ambulance but they are intercepted on their way to the hospital by the military and brought back to a secret base.

Apparently her husband had been working on a secret mission as part of a team tasked to explore the mysterious Area X. A sectioned area of the American coast where a strange phenomenon has started to mutate plants and animals. Feeling like she owes it to her husband, Lena decides to join the next team due to explore Area X, a group of female scientists who aim to uncover the source of these mutations.

The mutations themselves can be both beautiful and terrifying. Plants that can take the biological form of a human, animals that mirror each other and move in tandem. Animals with human features, varying in size and ferocity and most terrifying of all, the humans themselves start to mutate, their bodies and minds reacting to whatever force is at play.

Honestly on paper this film is brilliant. I don't want to spoil how Area X operates but it's one of the most interesting and original sci-fi ideas I've seen in a long time. Also I was looking forward to seeing a sci-fi action film led by women who were all there because of their own skills, not because the male ensemble needed eye candy.

What translated best from page to screen is the world. I love how this film looks and how creative the production design is. It's so sinister but colourful. Everything has this acidic green/purple look to it. It all looks organic and alive. I also appreciate a film with good practical effects. Instead of trying to blind the audience with CGI having something practical on screen not only helps the actors performances but also sells the believability of the world... Until the last ten minutes but we'll get to that.

I also liked the atmosphere the film tried to build. The mystery of what happened to Lena's husband created a sense of unease that followed the characters. It wasn't just the external threats but their deteriorating mental states that made them a danger to each other.

The cinematography is also stunning. Purely from a camera perspective this film is awesome.

2. What didn't work

It's honestly such a shame that this film isn't better than it is.

It could have been SO GOOD!

The most fundamental problem with this film is its characters and that's a hard thing for me to say because I really wanted to like them.

For a group of scientists that had apparently been working together for quite some time before the mission, they had absolutely no chemistry. I'm not saying I need them to be gal-pals or like the Avengers or anything but chummy or not they didn't feel like they had a history together. If it wasn't for a scene in the film where they say how long they've been here I wouldn't have picked up on it.

Unfortunately a lot of the drama and emotion in the film relies on this chemistry. When certain character revelations were made, I didn't feel anything for them. When their mental states started to change, I didn't feel sorry for them. It's not like they annoyed me, I didn't dislike them I just didn't really have an opinion about them at all.

Part of this was down to the characters own lack of emotion.

Again, I don't want them to be hysterical at everything weird they come across. They are professional scientists there to do a job. However, when all of them are looking at an incredible practical effect like it's just something wasting their time, it made me feel frustrated! Apart from Lena there was very little complexity to the other characters and because of this she may as well have been going solo the whole way.

Lots of deadpan, lots of angst, a lot of whisper-saying "I don't know" instead of getting a petri dish out to find out... that's the other thing. Appart from a few very short scenes with Lena looking through a microscope we see none of the women's skills actually come into play. They're scientists! Do some science! It's a good job Lena decided to join the group last minute, she's the only one actually doing any work!

It's a shame because I know these actresses are all capable of good performances. Maybe there is something better that got lost in the edit? Most likely it's down to rushed casting where actors were selected for their status rather than their chemistry with the rest of the group. It could also be down to a lack of direction.

The element that disappointed me the most though was the ending. The effects go from being awesome practical, organic looking horrors to... CGI sparkles. Like someone messing around with the After Effects particle generator.

I understand story wise what they were trying to do here but ultimately it just felt awkward and drawn out. I was curious to see how it ended but I didn't really care if Lena came out alive. It tried to be more than it was. I don't mind sci-fi getting a bit artsy and philosophical, it's kind of hard to find a sci-fi film that doesn't do a bit of that but it only really works if the basics are there.

3. Conclusion

I don't think Annihilation is a bad film. It's just not a great one. Usually this wouldn't bother me but realising how good this film could have been makes its mediocrity frustrating.

It's a classic case of idea over execution. The idea is great but the characters are boring and the story feels like it only exists to service the idea, not to create an emotional journey for the characters or the audience.

A decent sci-fi flick but it could have been so much more.

6/10