garyhvizdak

Pros: some excellent special effects. Heart stopping suspense if only 'cause most of it is filmed in the dark, so it's like a Halloween Horror Nights fun house.

Cons: Boring, bad casting, worse acting, pathetic direction/directing, laughable military team tactics, dumb and nearly non-existent plot.

This is easily among the five worst films I've ever sat through. (And I only watched it to the end so I could review it in good faith.)

The film surely would have benefited from a military tactician technical consultant. The interactions between the (supposedly) elite military team, were painful to watch.

What was happening elsewhere in the world, before and while all of this was happening? Why send such a small and woefully unqualified team on such a seemingly important mission? How many previous teams were there? Why would anyone waste the time and money to produce such a film in the first place? ... Watching Annihilation is what I image an LSD trip must be like. It is easily one of the ten worst films I've ever seen, and to be honest, I only sat through it so that I could review it in good faith. (Well that and I was hoping to figure out what was going on!) ... Yes, the opening is suspenseful and there are lots of cool special effects throughout - and I've always loved Natalie Portman - but very little of the story, casting choices, or directing make any sense. (It felt like the director was more focused on each individual scene, than on how they all would fit together to tell a story.) Oh, and I did not like many of the flashbacks.

I enjoyed it, but it felt kind of shallow as if lacking character development. In hindsight, I wonder if perhaps the movie died on the cutting room floor, i.e. In the editing process. For me, one of the high points of the entire movie was the brief scene with the hotdog vendor, the morning of Ferro's second day in NYC. I also wonder why there was no explanation of Diana and Pita's relationship, i.e. Why was Diana crashing on Pita's sofa? Or did I miss something? Also, pretty much all of the business dealings (on both coasts) seemed lame. A few bright spots were some of the supporting characters, even if they were a bit over-the-top.