Fantasy, mystery with great photography and limited plot!

Rating: 5/10 (16 April 2018)

I don't normally watch fantasy movies but I took the risk with Annihilation. The story line about a government expedition with hints of biological warfare intrigued me. Initially, the movie held my interest ... or at least for the first ten minutes.
Subsequently, I would tune in as and when I found the scenery worth watching or perhaps when it seemed something significant (plot wise) was about to occur. At times, the scenery in the nature park where the movie is set is astounding. The vivid green contrasted with the colorful flowers made the images amazing. However, Annihilation is not a documentary about photography it is a movie with a plot ... theoretically.
The movie came across like a suspense - horror - thriller but all that adrenaline was lost when the director moved into pseudo-intellectual artsy stuff. These artsy 'what's the point' quasi-intellectual interludes become more frequent as the movie progressed. They created little interest for me.
The movie tried to do much and ended up doing very little. In the end, I was left scratching my head asking myself what I missed. Maybe 'truer' and more experienced science fiction fans will appreciate the movie more than me. For the average viewer, perhaps you'll enjoy some of the computerized nature scenes.