Annihilation (2018) Review

Annihilation (2018) – Rated R – Reviewed March 2, 2018 – IMDb

Part of me wants to tell everyone to not see this movie but I can’t do it. I’ll get to my reasons for that later.

When I saw the trailer, I had no idea what the movie was going to be about. But it does all make sense when you see it. Trust me.

Annihilation is about….. well, a meteor hits near a lighthouse and it creates this area (called the Shimmer) and every team that has been sent into has not been heard from or seen again. Natalie Portman and an all-star cast are the latest team to venture into the growing Shimmer to find out what is going on. I don’t want to spoil it for anyone about what is happening in the Shimmer, so you need to see the movie to find out.

What kind of person goes into an unknown situation where every other group has mysteriously disappeared? Well, this movie takes it a different direction that the usual, heavily armed and over confident, groups you are used to seeing in these movies and instead explores a group of people who are all damaged in some way to the point where a mission like this seems reasonable and believable.

The other thing I liked is that, just when you think you figured out what kind of movie it is, it turns out you are wrong. It had an Alien/The Thing/Jacob’s Ladder vibe to it. Lots of suspense and “oh, shit” moments. One of my favorites was after seeing a creepy, disturbing video on a left-behind camcorder, the team is able to go to where is was filmed and see the aftermath. And it was disturbing and amazing at the same time.

The visual effects are stunning. A lot of it is really small details but the big effects are outstanding as well.

OK, so now you are thinking, “Mo, you are saying nothing but good things about this movie, why do you have trouble recommending it?”

Well, the first… 80% of the movie was outstanding. But like many of these movies that are high on concept, the ending left me flat. As my friend said, the movie didn’t end, it stopped. Maybe this is just a “me” thing but I was hoping for more closure. I don’t need everything explained, I’m good with some things being left to me and the internet to figure out, But this was too much the other way for me. But the rest of the movie was soooooo good that I have a hard time telling someone not to see it.

Well, at least I can say that I warned you. 🙂