We should welcome any film that attempts to wean us off that and broaden our palates. We're addicted to them like we're addicted to sugary fast food. Naturally, that will split opinion, but we've become too accustomed to the ready-packaged "Happy Meal Movies" that the studios churn out for us. Some of it is spectacular, some of it less so. It asks a lot of questions but isn't interested in the answers. A world that could only be accessible to us in our imaginations is here brought to life on the screen. Does the plot in Annihilation even really matter? The film is about the experience, the visuals and audio, the curiosity, the suspense. Plot holes only matter to me when they draw me away from the film if it fails to entertain me. Do the plot holes and gaps in logic stop BTTF from being a great film? Not to my mind, because I'm invested in the movie. If you analyse any film you'll find them, and often you don't have to look very hard, e.g. Some of my favourite films have canyon-sized plot holes and inconsistencies. They exist in every film, otherwise they wouldn't be stories. To my mind, Annihilation achieves all three. Finally, there are entertaining films that are moving but also have meaning they resonate on a deeper, often metaphysical level. Then, there are films that are not only entertaining but also elicit an emotional response they move us in some way. All films should succeed here (but not all do, which is why we should rightly slam those that don't!). For me, films work on three hierarchical levels: at the very basic, they should be entertaining. It's visceral, primal, just like the world inside The Shimmer. I don't think it is nor was it intended to be. I disagree with those who say it's intellectual. I don't even know what specifically I've been thinking about, all I can say is it left a big impression on me. I've thought about this film for days after seeing it.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |