At the beginning, “Annihilation” is a stubbed cigarette with flashes of fire. Unknown to bare perception is that the film charges its tremor in the budding minutes to keep the audiences’ eyes peeled for its delectable adventure. The movie, based on the science fiction novel by James VanderMeer, is sliced into three concise parts: “Area X,” “The Shimmer,” and “The Lighthouse.”
Natalie Portman stars as Lena, a biologist traversing the trifecta in search for answers to a biological anomaly known as The Shimmer. She teams with Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez, Tessa Thompson, and Tuva Novotny – starring as a psychologist, a paramedic, a physicist, and a geologist, respectively. Unwittingly, the team discovers the fate of Lena’s husband, Kane (Oscar Isaac), who trekked The Shimmer on a previous mission.
“Annihilation” is injected with iridescent visual effects that seem designed as dessert for the cinematic thirst. While the hybrid monsters enter the screen, the film becomes perceivably haunting and provokes the clash of terror and cerebral nourishment. However, the anomaly might truly be writer-director Alex Garland’s screenplay. His characters’ dialogues are robotic: superficially written unlike how authentic persons talk.
Suspense grows much like the greens bloom in “Annihilation.” Because Garland expertly wields the camera to prevent earnest revelation, venturing the void is the star of his show even in its sinisterly lucid scenes. His story-telling is charred by the soundtrack though.
Country music does not jive with the movie. Every old-school strum of the breezy guitar breaks the surreal force of "Annihilation," transforming it into a Halloween-esque music video. The songs are communicative noise, spookier than the yodel of a genetically modified bear.
When the air falls thin, “Annihilation” suffices the enriching wind of intellectual sleight. This is sci-fi gold, cinema lathered with cerebral jest. A garden of inquiries is surefire to sprout after seeing the film. It is the prize for encountering “Annihilation.” Here, the answers blossom into buzzing questions; signifying a special viewing peace.
Director: Alex Garland
*Trailer © Paramount Pictures; YouTube.com
Comments