Annihilation |OT| A Shimmer Out Of Space [Spoilers]
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It seems like she was rubbing a plant into her razer cuts. So she died similar to the character in The Ruins, just...more peacefully.
It can't be a coincidence that only Portman and Isaac made it out and that only once it connected to Portman did it self-destruct. Also considering self-destruction was a primary theme, I can't imagine that cancer had that kind of effect.
Wasn't a fan of the alien copy design. After all the crazy imagery of the mutations and the alien engine thing in the hole, it was just so bland. So many things that we've seen very little of in other films and media, only to end up with such a typical design for what should be a climactic piece.
Would've dug something that was shifting mutations in an attempt to copy her. Parts of it would one moment be the fungus, the next the bear, then the glass trees...basically it trying to copy Lena while dealing with all the mutations Lena herself is undergoing.
Sort of disappointed they killed off the Shimmer, as Authority has so much potential in the hands of Garland. And to see even a fraction of that tone flip on screen would be incredible with Annihilations visuals. Not that Paramounts treatment of it would allow a sequel to be born from this.
Loved the film until that bit and a bit disappointed that it ended on a rather predictable note.
Would've dug something that was shifting mutations in an attempt to copy her. Parts of it would one moment be the fungus, the next the bear, then the glass trees...basically it trying to copy Lena while dealing with all the mutations Lena herself is undergoing.
Sort of disappointed they killed off the Shimmer, as Authority has so much potential in the hands of Garland. And to see even a fraction of that tone flip on screen would be incredible with Annihilations visuals. Not that Paramounts treatment of it would allow a sequel to be born from this.
Loved the film until that bit and a bit disappointed that it ended on a rather predictable note.
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Saw it. Didn't like it.
I absolutely loved the book.
The Good
+ Just like in the book, the premise is strong. The opening scenes with the biologist and her husband are creepy and intriguing. The protagonist is simultaneously inhuman and too human and it's great.
+ I really liked the scene where they found the footage in the old Southern Reach base and then find the guy's exploded corpse afterwards. It was the perfectly unsettling.
The Bad
- The writing was not good. This is something I almost never say about movies, but it stuck out like a sore thumb here. Dialogue scenes felt like they didn't have any room to breathe. Characters powered through their lines and dropped hamfisted "insights" about the environment and each other with minimal build up. I don't think it was the actors' fault; it felt like the script itself just wasn't good, and the pacing of the scenes only exacerbated it.
- Every single area felt small and neatly constructed, like it was shot on a sound stage filled with leaves. You never get a sense of how far they are from the base or how isolated they are. Every scene looks like a campground off the side of the road. Even the tunnels at the end, which should have been creepy and expansive, were tragically limited.
- The scene with the first bear attack is awful. The field is too brightly lit, and there's no sense of how the bear manages to sneak up on them or how it manages to get away so quickly afterward. The camera resists the urge to show the field from the characters' perspective because presumably it would just look ridiculous. I don't like to do logical nitpicking of movies, but it just totally killed the mood for this scene.
- The bear roar sounded surprisingly cheap? Maybe it was just the theater I was in, but it literally sounded like a stock roar sound effect you might find on the internet. The otherworldly creepiness that permeates the rest of the movie was totally absent from it.
The Ugly (aka. things that were worse than the book)
- The three characters who weren't the biologist or the psychologist felt like generic horror movie archetypes, two-dimensional and unrealistic.
- There was a lack of meaningful character interaction in general, which is something the book excelled at. The movie kept dropping hints of "We might turn against each other!", but there's barely any payoff for it (the climactic "group conflict" scene is as forced and by-the-numbers as they come).
- Showing the meteor at the beginning was completely unnecessary. It makes the "So it was aliens." line at the end even dumber. Couldn't they have the meteor be some sort of flashback during the climactic scene of the movie? Is it really necessary to show that the threat is from outer space before we've even been introduced to it?
- The relationship between the biologist and her husband was much less interesting than it was in the book. The whole thing where she's trying to save her husband's life feels like an attempt to make the story more conventional in the most boring and uninspired way possible.
For the record, I also had mostly negative things to say about Ex Machina. Though I didn't know this was directed by the same guy until after the credits had rolled.
I absolutely loved the book.
The Good
+ Just like in the book, the premise is strong. The opening scenes with the biologist and her husband are creepy and intriguing. The protagonist is simultaneously inhuman and too human and it's great.
+ I really liked the scene where they found the footage in the old Southern Reach base and then find the guy's exploded corpse afterwards. It was the perfectly unsettling.
The Bad
- The writing was not good. This is something I almost never say about movies, but it stuck out like a sore thumb here. Dialogue scenes felt like they didn't have any room to breathe. Characters powered through their lines and dropped hamfisted "insights" about the environment and each other with minimal build up. I don't think it was the actors' fault; it felt like the script itself just wasn't good, and the pacing of the scenes only exacerbated it.
- Every single area felt small and neatly constructed, like it was shot on a sound stage filled with leaves. You never get a sense of how far they are from the base or how isolated they are. Every scene looks like a campground off the side of the road. Even the tunnels at the end, which should have been creepy and expansive, were tragically limited.
- The scene with the first bear attack is awful. The field is too brightly lit, and there's no sense of how the bear manages to sneak up on them or how it manages to get away so quickly afterward. The camera resists the urge to show the field from the characters' perspective because presumably it would just look ridiculous. I don't like to do logical nitpicking of movies, but it just totally killed the mood for this scene.
- The bear roar sounded surprisingly cheap? Maybe it was just the theater I was in, but it literally sounded like a stock roar sound effect you might find on the internet. The otherworldly creepiness that permeates the rest of the movie was totally absent from it.
The Ugly (aka. things that were worse than the book)
- The three characters who weren't the biologist or the psychologist felt like generic horror movie archetypes, two-dimensional and unrealistic.
- There was a lack of meaningful character interaction in general, which is something the book excelled at. The movie kept dropping hints of "We might turn against each other!", but there's barely any payoff for it (the climactic "group conflict" scene is as forced and by-the-numbers as they come).
- Showing the meteor at the beginning was completely unnecessary. It makes the "So it was aliens." line at the end even dumber. Couldn't they have the meteor be some sort of flashback during the climactic scene of the movie? Is it really necessary to show that the threat is from outer space before we've even been introduced to it?
- The relationship between the biologist and her husband was much less interesting than it was in the book. The whole thing where she's trying to save her husband's life feels like an attempt to make the story more conventional in the most boring and uninspired way possible.
For the record, I also had mostly negative things to say about Ex Machina. Though I didn't know this was directed by the same guy until after the credits had rolled.
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I'm a bit on the fence. The changes the movie makes from the source material made the story less interesting. In the book I didn't love the hypnosis angle... but it at least created some genuine drama because you knew that one of the team members was shady and couldn't be trusted. That wasn't really the case here because the person who distrusted the others just didn't have the information the audience has. They sort of gloss over that stuff and it comes and goes fairly quickly. I liked in the book how we didn't know what happened to certain people when they disappeared and had to decide for ourselves who to believe. Here, we just know, we see everything. There's no mystery or much drama. Other changes also made the narrative just a bit too straight forward, like removing The Tower and the Crawler. The movie just moved forward in a straight line.
The bear scene and the alligator scene were both genuinely great.
Portman did a fantastic job. Acting wise it's all pretty top notch. Honestly technically it's a fantastic movie, but from a story perspective it kinda falls flat.
The bear scene and the alligator scene were both genuinely great.
Portman did a fantastic job. Acting wise it's all pretty top notch. Honestly technically it's a fantastic movie, but from a story perspective it kinda falls flat.
I agree on the opening meteor shots. It takes away a lot of the investment the audience should have with the characters in resolving the mystery.
I also think the mutation engine + Ventress' end show that the Keeper from the novel was entirely possible, but aliens with Lovecraft overtones was tossed out in favor of regular alien body horror/snatching beats.
I still enjoyed it overall despite the ending being a let down overall.
Edit: I'm not sure why they bothered with keeping the initial blackout when entering the Shimmer if it wasn't addressed at all as things came together. Just felt like unnecessary bait for the readers in the audiemce in regards to Ventress.
Also, interesting coincidence: The Book of the New Sun also has a scene in which a bear-like monstrosity mimics the voice of a human that it's eaten in order to lure someone out of their house. Maybe that's why the second bear scene didn't do much for me; the "twist" is the first thing that jumped into my mind, and after that it was just a generic "don't move a muscle" horror scene.
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Was Oscar slipping in and out of a southern accent in the scene before he grenades himself? Was that due to absorbing aspects of other teammates or did I imagine that?
Saw it today, jesus the bear scene was one of the most intense scenes I've seen in a film in a while. Even though it was of the 'stay still to hide from the monster' variety, the voice + head of the bear was just nuts.
Overall, was a big fan of the movie. Could have done with a little more character development on some of the main characters (preferably before they went in), but very minor quibble.
Wife was less than please with the body horror, but ultimate review was "Was that what it's like to be on drugs?"
I caught that too, I think that was part of his point (besides the fact he was staring at his doppleganger) - he was no longer himself.
Overall, was a big fan of the movie. Could have done with a little more character development on some of the main characters (preferably before they went in), but very minor quibble.
Wife was less than please with the body horror, but ultimate review was "Was that what it's like to be on drugs?"
I caught that too, I think that was part of his point (besides the fact he was staring at his doppleganger) - he was no longer himself.
Liked this quite a bit. Overall a very solid slow-burn sci-fi. I agree with the gist of Adaren's criticisms, though. Some dialogue issues and spotty character interactions/relationships. I attributed much of that to the characters being disoriented and not quite themselves, however.
My mind kept thinking about entropy (the tendency for disorder to increase). I think that's what the story was mostly about? Self-destruction, as Ventress said. From the ashes of the old comes the new. Radek survives by embracing the changes within her.
While I enjoyed the musical score, as well Helplessly Hoping sprinkled throughout the movie, it would have been cool to see "Music by Hans Shimmer" in the credits.
My mind kept thinking about entropy (the tendency for disorder to increase). I think that's what the story was mostly about? Self-destruction, as Ventress said. From the ashes of the old comes the new. Radek survives by embracing the changes within her.
While I enjoyed the musical score, as well Helplessly Hoping sprinkled throughout the movie, it would have been cool to see "Music by Hans Shimmer" in the credits.
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I for one loved this movie. Perhaps not as much as Ex Machina but judged as its own thing I was thoroughly engaged and satisfied with the progression and how the shimmer looked and worked.
I am also surprised how little I had heard about the progressive casting before seeing the movie. I did not know going in that the entire main cast was female and that there were no speaking roles given to white men, at least none I noticed.
I am also surprised how little I had heard about the progressive casting before seeing the movie. I did not know going in that the entire main cast was female and that there were no speaking roles given to white men, at least none I noticed.
I asked above, but I think it was to show how different the "returned" Kane was to the real one. Real Kane had curly hair and a Southern accent, Returned Kane had straight hair and no accent. I also wondered if Returned Lena had any physical differences.
I think I liked this a lot. It was pretty clumsy at times, but the sheer spectacle of it kind of makes up for it. I read the book a while ago but barely remember any of it.
This movie sucked. They nailed the premise and the feel of the southern reach but the execution was awful and not aligned with the books at all. I can imagine a lot of people who hadn't read the books walked away very very confused.
Edit: also I expected the tower and the crawler. HUGELY important in the book but nonexistent here.
Edit: also I expected the tower and the crawler. HUGELY important in the book but nonexistent here.
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Just saw it. It was good, not Ex Machina good, but still a great movie. A lot of powerful scenes.
I definitely enjoyed it.
I definitely enjoyed it.
Saw it and loved it. I need a bit of time to kind of let it sit, and think about it some more though. I know I enjoyed it, but this is definitely not a movie that caters well to hot takes.
Just saw it and I'm pretty mixed. I think there were some really clever ideas there and I liked the twist of applying the ideas from the book to human relationships and cells decaying.
I think my biggest complaint, though, was that it was too oriented. Those that read the book might know what I mean. The movie felt like I knew exactly what was going on all the time, unfortunately. Not only did I know, but the movie tells you too much. The book was so disorienting, and that added so much to the atmosphere. The movie possibly should have skipped ahead and started right at the tent scene with Natalie waking up and coming out. I dunno, something needed to be done different with that.
In addition I also felt like the scenes before heading in felt odd. Especially at the Southern Reach station. The lighting was off and felt like bad CG despite being in an office. I'm not sure I understand why it was so weird. There were a few other times when it felt 'cheap' in a way.
I think my biggest complaint, though, was that it was too oriented. Those that read the book might know what I mean. The movie felt like I knew exactly what was going on all the time, unfortunately. Not only did I know, but the movie tells you too much. The book was so disorienting, and that added so much to the atmosphere. The movie possibly should have skipped ahead and started right at the tent scene with Natalie waking up and coming out. I dunno, something needed to be done different with that.
In addition I also felt like the scenes before heading in felt odd. Especially at the Southern Reach station. The lighting was off and felt like bad CG despite being in an office. I'm not sure I understand why it was so weird. There were a few other times when it felt 'cheap' in a way.
That ties into something from the books that doesn't carry over into the movie. (I'm reading the book now)
I saw this last night and really liked it. I have not read the books so I can't compare, but some of the scenes were jaw dropping.
Just saw it and... Yeah... It was ok, it had cool moment but in the end my main takeaway was... Ok,.... So?
The character stories we're so one note that I didn't really care nor did they resolve in a cool or interesting way and the main story sort of just repeatedly the same theme over and over
Only thing I feel like Iissed a reason for was
Lena didn't have a tattoo on her arm, but then acquired it from the second woman to die from the bear, whatever her name was. Thematically I guess it's just another repeat of... Repeating, but tattoos arent exactly dna so it annoyed me. Unless there's more i missed?/QUOTE]
Overall an intriguing but forgettable movie
Overall an intriguing but forgettable movie
I thought it was pretty good. Dunno if I was amazed by it, but it was a good watch.
Literally that humanoid thing is the most terrifying thing I think I've seen in a movie. Vaguely human, no face and reflects your movements, fucking horrifying.
I'm so glad she killed it, that thing needed to die
Literally that humanoid thing is the most terrifying thing I think I've seen in a movie. Vaguely human, no face and reflects your movements, fucking horrifying.
I'm so glad she killed it, that thing needed to die
I don't think they killed off the Shimmer. they got a report, presumably via radio that the lighthouse had burned down. How trustworthy is the report is my question. We're not even sure that the woman they're talking to is the real Lena. She might be a more perfected clone.
also love the shout outs the stalker and the thing.
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isn't the shimmer field completely gone? wouldn't they be able to verify that claim easily now?
I didn't hear them say that. just that they had a report from a team that the lighthouse had burned to ash.
loved the movie. but i was super dissapointed that they didnt have the tower and the crawler in it. I really wanted to see how they could put that onto the screen from the book.
and damn this track off the soundtrack is a scifi classic! Its amazing. When the horns come in around 4:45. perfection. so ominous. or the violin or whatever at 0:45. man.
i definitely need to see this again.
The Alien
and damn this track off the soundtrack is a scifi classic! Its amazing. When the horns come in around 4:45. perfection. so ominous. or the violin or whatever at 0:45. man.
i definitely need to see this again.
The Alien
There are several aspects of the book that I'm disappointed didn't make it into the film (and a few aspects of the film I think were pointless), but I think overall I enjoyed it. I don't know if this was intentional on Garland's part or not, but the film is in a sense, what you might get if you tossed the book Annihilation into Area X and it spit something else back out that was at turns both familiar and completely different.
Ah, yes! There is that scene where it looks like Lena sees it for the first time. I thought it was weird that I hadn't noticed it before, and I guess it was also on the other woman's arm? Also makes me curious about Kane's tattoos.
Maybe its presence was just too stretched out for my taste. For something that is supposed to be organic, it was just too metallic and for some odd reason copying form instead of the actual biology the whole film beat us over the head with. It took me out when it was all but 5 or so seconds a walking chromatic aberration version of the T1000.
That absence of face was disconcerting, which was a nice touch. It just felt so far apart from the rest of the film in design and direction.
The Shimmer is definitely down, though obviously whatever is happening hasn't stopped with Kane stabilizing and Lena clearly still under mutation. The radio wouldn't have worked if the Shimmer was somehow still in place.
Unless we believe the climax is a fabricated story by Lena, that is what is left of the original Lena at Area X. She was already mutating like the others. So if anything, Lena doesn't really exist anymore.
Idk if it was one of Kane's, but the 8 tattoo was definitely on the guy that Kane cut open in the recording. Can see it I think in the recording, but it's present on his mutated remains.
It was only on Lena in the Shimmer. It wasn't present in flashbacks, and I don't recall it in the Area X scenes prior to entering.
The tattoo was on the Jane the Virgin girl right before she went crazy. After she died, it transfered to lena.I didn't realize it was on the cut open guy,good catch.
That bear has left me deeply disturbed.
I meant to red the book before watching the movie but I completely dropped the ball ahh. I might go back and pick it up in the future, since they seem completely different. This whole movie seemed like something that could have been straight out of the SCP archive, which I loved.
I meant to red the book before watching the movie but I completely dropped the ball ahh. I might go back and pick it up in the future, since they seem completely different. This whole movie seemed like something that could have been straight out of the SCP archive, which I loved.
In the trailer they talk about the shimmer expanding rapidly which does occur but I think in the second or third book. They removed that dialog. Makes me think they re-cut or re-shot the ending.
Also, the reason the alien thing feels so out of place is because that whole scene is completely made up. In the books, if memory serves, we never truly understand what the origin or nature or the shimmer is. We can assume alien, but we certainly never get a scene where Lena goes "yep, it's aliwn".
Also, the reason the alien thing feels so out of place is because that whole scene is completely made up. In the books, if memory serves, we never truly understand what the origin or nature or the shimmer is. We can assume alien, but we certainly never get a scene where Lena goes "yep, it's aliwn".
Yeah I definitely saw it on Lena in the shimmer, then on Natalie Portman's character throughout the questioning. Dunno why but that stood out to me. Definitely don't not remember it being on the one guy though, I'll have to pay more attention next time I watch it.
book reasons. but reading the director's words, he seems like he was more interested in making a movie out of a book, rather than making a book into a movie.
I would like to see the movie based on the book world and events.
This movie reminds me of the Dark Tower movie where the general setting and a lot of the details are in common with the book, but the over all story has been lost for the sake of a movie full of visuals.
the director seemed to trade the apocalyptic and religious existential stuff out for the body horror and cancer metaphors.
also why didn't he have an accent in her memories of him? I also am wondering what the ending changes might have involved.
I don't think the accent was actually his, it was crossed with others.
I didn't know how I felt about the film after walking out of the theatre. It's one of those films where it sticks with you and you continue to think about it though. My audience was silent after it was over so I wasn't the only one. (one guy near me just muttered "well then" when the ending title card showed up)
I loved it though. I went on a spree last night looking up theories and reading threads about the mysteries. Even bought a copy of the book since I heard it's different. (It's very good so far)
I started reading the book last night after seeing the film. It's definitely worth it. The movie and book are pretty different.
I loved it though. I went on a spree last night looking up theories and reading threads about the mysteries. Even bought a copy of the book since I heard it's different. (It's very good so far)
I started reading the book last night after seeing the film. It's definitely worth it. The movie and book are pretty different.
Trying to skim over impressions without reading spoilers, but keep seeing something to do with a bear. My girlfriend doesn't do well with movies with animal cruelty or deaths. Without spoiling anything does the bear have anything to do with that?