Multiple viewings required. Sadly I'm just not that invested

Rating: 6/10 (17 March 2018)

Annihilation
Alex Garlands latest cinematic offering wasn't offered at the cinema at all. Well not at least in the UK.
A pleasant surprise then when scrolling through Netflix content I find the movie available to stream instantly.
Winner winner chicken dinner!
From the emergence of this movies teaser trailer I for one was looking forward to seeing it.
Especially since I thoroughly enjoyed Garlands last movie Ex Machina and I thought his work on Dredd was excellent.
Annihilation tells the story of a biologist played by Natalie Portman who signs up for an expedition to go into an area that's believed to be an environmental disaster zone.
The Shimmer as it is known is a growing environment where the laws of nature don't apply.
Think of this film as a serious version of the 2001 movie Evolution crossed with Aliens and John Carpenter's The Thing.
This film tested badly at pre release screenings deemed too intellectual and complicated.
So it seems Paramount binned it off on to Netflix when the studio and director couldn't come to agreement.
However after the movies release actual reviews have been mostly positive.
Annihilation is definitely a much better film than the Paramounts other recent Science fiction movie The Cloverfield Paradox.
That too mysteriously finding its way on to Netflix prematurely.
Annihilation isn't a bad film but for me it is trying to be too clever.
Like a good novel the film does start out in a gripping page turning manner.
However the movies intertwining subplots do detract from the meat of the story. I believe certain aspects could have been simply explained rather than devoting long drawn out scenes.
Perhaps this is where studio executives would have liked to have taken a pair of scissors.
Director Alex Garland was having none of it.
When the film does concentrate on the actual story we do get a rather tense and nail biting horror thriller. A particular scene involving a kind of mutant bear is most satisfying.
Portman's performance is very good as you'd expect from her whilst supporting cast are a little under developed.
A dialogue scene involving Portmans characters and another woman in a small boat is the only attempt I remember at developing any of the supporting cast. The fact that I can't recall the characters name merits this gripe.
Super talent like Tessa Thompson is under used and it seems apparent that Oscar Issac crammed this movie in whilst taking a coffee break from filming Star Wars.
Annihilation is a beautiful looking movie. I watched it on a large tablet with a good pair of headphones. Really I owe it to the films production crew to stream it again on a large screen in 4K HDR to truly appreciate the stunning visuals.
The problem is that the movie just does not compel me to watch it again.
I do hear all those reviewers who demand that this film requires multiple viewings to fully grasp the directors vision. Sadly I'm just not that invested.
I must agree that there's some
great concepts here and for a movie made on a fairly modest budget it does look and sound fantastic. But it didn't wow me in the way I thought it would.
Maybe it's me. Maybe I am missing the point.
Take the original Bladerunner. That particular movie took time to be truly appreciated.
Maybe Annihilation will do too.