Underwhelming and tired

Rating: 5/10 (26 February 2018)

When you build a new sci-fi world, it does not necessarily have to follow any coherent set of rules, and it surely is allowed to push boundaries. The "shimmer" of Annihilation literally pushes boundaries, daring to ask bold questions such as: "Was this affair a good or bad idea?"; "Where is your spare phosphorous grenade?"; and "What would a duct-tape version of yourself look like?"
I wanted to meet the Shimmerman, or Shimmerwoman, or Shimmerthing, but the closest we get is an alligator with shark teeth, a bear who can moan with convincingly human voices, and a soldier's corpse that grew apart into a very creepy pool boy.
Whatever the Shimmer is, it does not seem to have goals, and admittedly it might not want anything at all. It came from outer space, it refracts DNA, and the results are underwhelming, especially the special effects. It is worth noting the special effects from 2001: A Space Odyssey are still better, made 50 years ago, all without the aid of computer animations.
The acting is straight from the Joey smell-the-fart school, perhaps combined with method acting, because no doubt the Shimmer is filled with refracted farts, one dividing into two, two dividing into four, four dividing into eight, and ultimately filling the world with an entirely new kind of fart.