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doomonfilm · 6 years ago

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Review : Extinction (2018)

Here we are, yet again... the last few weeks have been devoid of major releases that I feel deserve my attention, and I find myself combing through the streaming services for ‘original’ content. This go round, I found myself in the world of Netflix yet again, with a big old slice of science fiction in the form of Extinction.

Peter (Michael Pena) is an engineer attempting to keep his wife Alice (Lizzy Caplin), as well as his daughters Hanna (Amelia Crouch) and Lucy (Erica Tremblay), happy and peaceful. Reoccurring nightmares, however, make it hard for Peter to keep a sense of stability, as the nightmares seem to be clear warnings of an otherworldly threat racing towards everyone Peter knows and loves, with the intent to wipe them all out of existence. The nightmares cause a rift between Peter and his family, as they are unable to understand why the man they love sometimes acts as if his family is an afterthought. At the urging of Alice, Peter finally decides to see a professional for help, but his experience in the waiting room only furthers his fears. Peter’s worries, unfortunately, become reality as scores of unknown ships emerge from the sky, bringing chaos and destruction with them. As Peter attempts to protect those close to him, he slowly begins to learn more about the threat, himself, and the reality everyone is facing.

This film is full of pointed choices meant to make us question things that should be ‘normal’, only to validate these odd choices in the final 20 minutes of run-time through a surprising (to me) twist. Like most any twist, many will say that they saw it coming from a mile away, but in my experience, I felt like I was seeing what I thought were quirks, only to have my expectations subverted. It’s not the most mind-blowing setup and payoff in the world, but it definitely makes me want to watch the film again, as I imagine it will play much differently knowing the key bits of information I know now.

That being said, the film is definitely a good premise with a good payoff (in my opinion). Invasion movies usually have a rigid structure, and are almost certainly about understanding that we’re ultimately all the same in this crazy universe, but this one is fresh due to the way it switches expected roles. Even the role switch is not necessarily all that fresh, per se, but this film does it as more of a bait and switch scenario and less of an opportunity to teach a universal lesson (though the lesson punctuation is definitely hit as the film closes out).

After doing a bit of research, I learned that this film is a rare escapee of the famous pit of despair that is development hell. Many stars and directors have been attached to the property, but ultimately it could not get enough faith from a studio to merit production, promotion or a decent budget. With the advent of Netflix and their focus on originals, however, we’ve come to see many of these so called ‘unmakeable’ properties become a reality, and while not all are the blockbusters that the creators dreamed that they would be, many of them do meet the expectations set for streaming service-level film. Seeing actors in roles that you would not normally see them in due to these budget constraints is a nice change of pace as well, as Hollywood continues to prove how familiarity can breed contempt by placing a handful of the same action stars in all of their big budget action fodder.

Michael Pena shows an amazing amount of restraint and control in his performance, to a positive degree... as much as his silliness has become a hallmark, it would not have played well in regards to his role, but he did prove he can stick strictly to drama if need be. Lizzy Caplan also gives a surprisingly reserved performance, allowing her pronounced moments to play extremely effectively. Amelia Crouch is strong in her role as the angst-filled child, while Erica Temblay stands up to the task of the ‘young child making bad decisions’ trope. Mike Colter essentially makes an appearance, but his role does not call for much in terms of depth or range. Emma Booth, Lex Shrapnel and Lilly Aspell make brief appearances as the family next door, and Israel Broussard plays a member of the invasion force, but each of these roles are ultimately present to push the story forward.

I’m still waiting for Netflix to drop the film that lets us all know that they’ve truly arrived as a force to be reckoned with in terms of film release, but unfortunately, Extinction does not mark that day. It does, however, continue to show a trend in the right direction, and an effort to make films that viewers will return to.

#ChiefDoomsday #DOOMonFILM #BenYoung #Extinction #MichaelPena #LizzyCaplan #MikeColter #AmeliaCrouch #EricaTremblay #IsraelBroussard #LexSharpnel #EmmaBooth #LillyAspell

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