6/15/19 - Extinction (2018) - 4-/10

Mild and at times uninteresting, especially when the drama should be at its height, but it survives because of an interesting premise once the shoe drops. It is ho-hum, but it moves somewhat quickly & steadily and never completely fails. Yeah, that is a low bar, but I am saying it isn’t bad, not that it is good.

Peña, Caplan, Mike Colter (from Luke Cage)… they are all pretty monotone and deflating. As the story plays out, perhaps that was a subtle direction from the director, but as a feature on its face, it struggles not to be uninteresting and unengaging. For that particular eccentricity to be appreciated, you need to identify the root cause much earlier, otherwise you risk alienating your audience, which kind of happens. It slightly pays off if you keep up with it and buy in to an extent, but does anyone care at that point… Then again, maybe it was just poor direction/performances and I am just reading a purpose into the passionless.

It wants to be a family drama, a psychological thriller (ala Jacob’s Ladder), an alien invasion action blockbuster, and a thoughtfully poignant science fiction parable. Well, it can want in one hand and crap in the other and I can tell you which one filled first. It is a sub-par effort no matter what hole you are shooting for.

If you are a hardcore sci-fi nerd, maybe its worth a watch, but not much in way of enjoyment is really brought to the table. The production is ok and the larva of an idea could gestate into a beautiful cinematic butterfly, but a worm of potential is all you get.