In February the DS Team dived deep into high concept Sci-Fi with “Annihilation.” Based mostly on the first novel in the “Southern Reach Trilogy” that goes by the same name, Annihilation stars Natalie Portman and Oscar Isaac as a married couple whose lives become thrust into a government investigation of a phenomena happening in a national park, which the government simply refers to as “The Shimmer.” When Kane (Oscar Isaac) disappears and suddenly returns after a year as the only living member of an expedition that went into the shimmer, he suddenly becomes violently ill. His wife Lena (Natalie Portman) a biologist goes in with a new expedition in hopes she can find the answer to save him.
The first thing that stuck out to the DS Team in their reviews was the visuals. This movie is shot on location most of the time, which gives a refreshing lack of CGI and/or green screen for the majority of the movie. The use of practical effects is especially nice. The performances of Natalie Portman and Oscar Isaac are strong, while the supporting cast for the most part are serviceable. There are strong themes that continue throughout the movie, and by the end you may be wondering aloud to yourself what this movie was actually about.
For the most part, DS team members saw this movie as a 3/5, with a couple of stronger ratings. The issues of this movie revolve mostly around the resolution of the film, along with the complex narrative. However, writing, visuals, and super creepy, and occasionally disturbing imagery, make this movie worth a look!
