Common sense annihilated

Rating: 5/10 (16 March 2018)

I read somewhere that this is one of those rare sci-fi films where the characters don't make stupid mistakes, and act in accordance with common sense. If only. Never mind using flimsy paddling boats after you've just been attacked by a giant mutant alligator. Never mind using night-vision goggles to see that a perimeter fence has just been opened up by something "like a zipper", and then promptly putting the goggles down and saying, "I can't see anything." Never mind cutting a man's whole stomach off just to show a camera that his insides are moving. Those are just a few of the better decisions the characters make.
The film has other problems. I haven't read the books, and the first 15 minutes were a mess to me. Just awful. I didn't know what was going on, but I wasn't intrigued in the slightest. It's not until the "Shimmer" is introduced that you feel any interest at all. Portman's performance is lacklustre. Whoever thought of putting instrumental guitar music in the soundtrack deserves a slap. Lena's affair seemed to be stuck in there for no good reason. Her duel at the end with her "echo" goes on for way too long.
Then there's the worst thing: the ending. I would have settled for being offered a choice of possible reasons for the Shimmer, and then being left to decide for myself which one was true. Instead, we get only one explanation: aliens did it. Why? No one knows. It's a bit of a cop-out.