Aniquilación

La escena con el "oso" llorón humano y la grabación psicópata con un corte de abdomen son los momentos culminantes de esta B de ciencia ficción superpoblada y fangosa, en la que los dos primeros tercios aún despiertan curiosidad, pero como resultado se ahoga en un insatisfactorio farol de motivos, de los cuales la mitad es completamente plana y no conduce a ninguna parte, y la otra mitad es muy interesante, pero al final culmina con la protagonista diciendo "No sé". (07.06.2018)

Una versión más académica de La cosa en la selva (y en la playa). Un tema inicialmente convencional con un toque de película de serie B pero con ideas interesantes, que culmina con un encuentro cercano nunca visto del tercer tipo, fascinante en su naturaleza fantasmagórica de gran alcance, y tentador en su necesidad de encontrar tantas respuestas como sea posible. La escena final es un regreso a las reglas del género, pero funciona de maravilla. Garland no es un creador de éxitos, es un tipo de ciencia ficción duro. La llegada trataba de la relatividad de la percepción del tiempo, Aniquilación trata de la relatividad de las formas de vida biológica. Completamente diferentes, pero en ambos casos ciencia ficción brillante, ambiciosa e innovadora. (24.12.2018)

It’s great that Netflix, as part of its sci-fi mission, shoots stories that are part of the current new weird novel trend. I actually discovered the author of the source novel – Jeff VanderMeer a few months ago in the form of his book Veniss Underground and I was fascinated by his brutal surrealism. In case of Annihilation, it’s not that obvious but still similar. Had Giger been still alive and participated in the creation of this movie like he did in the case of Alien, it might have been a unique work. It’s still quite decent as it is, though. I was ecstatic even though I’d have appreciated more visual ideas in that bubble. (16.04.2020)

The less sense there is, the stronger the fate, or how not even a mutated extraterrestrial ecosystem isn’t enough for someone to act with some sense with their protozoan intelligence, isn’t it, Marceloo? But on the other hand, I wouldn’t take Annihilation as a deeply philosophical work, either – the fact that anyone can get frustrated because of that is funny. Portman and four more scientists, about whom a lot can be written (though certainly not that the director has made them likeable) go to investigate a Zone… and they find pretty much what the trailer promised, although there is less survival and mutated creatures than expected. Then it nicely goes to a highly atmospheric and wordless mind-fuck, but there’s nothing unpredictable about it, either. In a Nolan film, Nataly would have spoken a lot in the end and that would be it. I really enjoyed Annihilation, it’s visually excellent, the special effects are engaging and here and there it pushes the mind into a nicely dark direction. But I have a soft spot for sci-fi premises like this, in any media, and I’m really interested in the book version now. But I don’t think this film is that awesome, really; my expectations were perhaps a little higher. (12.03.2018)

I appreciate Garland for one thing: how he is able to seduce critics, through his bloated and, in this case, nonsensical B-movie, to write about sci-fi masterpieces. Which is the case of a film that looks quite bad on television and is vague everywhere where it should be concrete and concrete everywhere where it should be vague. Truly a daring film. (14.03.2018)