Annihilation Review

Movie Summary

From the writer and director of "Ex Machina" comes this sci-fi thriller based off the book series by Jeff VanderMeer. A mysterious force field like object has formed and is slowly expanding it's dominance of the region. Several teams of soldiers and scientists have entered to gather data, and find out it's source yet only one person has come back. While he is alive something is not right, and he quickly becomes ill. A team of all female scientists and doctors now enter what is know as "The Shimmer" to find out what happened to the man who got out, and how they can help him.

MPAA Rating/Content

Annihilation is rated R for violence, bloody images, language and some sexuality. There are some very gruesome things in this that may make you uncomfortable. For example a man's stomach is cut open, and you pretty much see all of what is going on. As far as the mention of sexuality there is a sex scene shown twice in the film, but is done so without nudity.

"It leaves you with a lot of unanswered questions, and a "What did I just watch?" feeling.

My Rating: 6.5/10

*What I Liked

Does this have originality? Yes. I am always looking for original science fiction material, and this had it. Many of the visuals were intriguing and there were things I hadn't seen done before. I did enjoy some of the score as it did a good job at setting the mood.

*What I didn't Like

Certain elements reminded me a lot of the film "Arrival". Specifically it's use of flashbacks and the overall investigation of this alien infestation. I didn't think the way the flashbacks worked really benefited the story like they did in "Arrival".

This didn't have a satisfying ending in my opinion. It leaves you with a lot of unanswered questions, and a "What did I just watch?" feeling. Prior to watching I didn't know that it was part of a trilogy of books. I didn't feel like I had to see a sequel of this at the end.

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