Which Alex Garland movie do you prefer?
Added 2022-05-11 21:35:58 +0000 UTCComments
I feel like I commented on this recently, but I guess not. I love Alex Garland, he's the most exciting filmmaker working today in my mind. I love both films equally but they are different in ways that may affect your personal preference. Ex Machina is a cerebral, narrow-scope, character-driven story... almost a play really. It's dialogue and philosophical musings carry the film. If you're the type of person that likes to discuss a movie then Ex Machina has endless entry points into that kind of evening. I used it as my litmus test for if I liked people or not for a number of years. If their takeaway was some generic "wow men really do be imprisoning women" then I know they don't engage with art on its own terms. I found Ex Machina to be wholly original. It played off of common sentiments but it wasn't cribbing from cultural cliches. It was a story about those exact characters in that exact circumstance. The events and outcome were all true to that experience. I found it gripping on my first viewing and learn something new each subsequent viewing. That said, Annihilation seems clearly the better "film." It proved Garland was a genuine filmmaker and not merely a writer. The bear scene and the ending are slam-dunks in terms of building and releasing dramatic tension. Those are scenes that if they were in their own movies, the movie would be renowned simply because of that one scene, but this movie has two of those. Even with those standouts, the rest of the film is still so visually memorable. Seeing Josie disappear into the trees, the video of the last crew, or just the shimmer itself. It's such a beautiful film while fixating itself on a really ugly aspect of human nature. It's also the last film I felt true awe in a theater. Maybe that was supported by the flashy special effects, but it was the last time I remember thinking "Ok, I have no idea where this movie is going but I'm liking it" and that was so exciting! I'd say awe is how I feel about Annihilation in general. Garland had the confidence to adapt a story and basically abandon it halfway because the source material was indecipherable junk. He made something much better than the source material (as Kubrick did so many times). As much as I gush about Annihilation, it makes me want to defend Ex Machina lol. I guess I'm a Garland fanboy, but I'd say it depends on your tastes. If you like the cohesive cerebral experience, then Ex Machina. If you're up for an adventure story that isn't as tight but has more peaks and valleys, then Annihilation. Personally, I'd say Annihilation.
Arthur Augustyn
2022-05-12 23:49:57 +0000 UTCI voted for Ex Machina. Annihilation is more ambitious, but Ex Machina is more accomplished. Working for the first time from someone else’s material, Garland ditches the well-worn sci-fi themes of his previous scripts (the destructive consequences of playing God, etc.) to go after something much deeper and more abstract. He works with a narrative premise that can best be described as Stalker-goes-Lovecraft, with elements of 2001, Alien, and The Thing thrown in. The movie, as it goes along through its mutated, beautifully sinister world, keeps promising an awe-inspiring revelation at the end of its story. When it gets to the lighthouse, the film, in its small-scale way, is trying to evoke the haunting, enigmatic grandeur of the final sequence of 2001. That is, we’re not meant to fully understand what is going on, but we know we’re supposed to be witnessing something transcendently profound. I will say that there is an element of spookiness to Lena’s face-off with her alien double, but as a grand statement on the origin and nature of life…nothing resonates. Ultimately, I think Hart is pretty spot on in his assessment: it’s not nearly as profound as it thinks it is. Portman, an actress I usually can’t stand, gives a fine performance of pensive anxiety, though I never found myself invested in her relationship to Isaac. It’s too thinly conceived for me to care. Annihilation isn’t the dumpster fire that Prometheus is, but, in its undertaking a journey to understand life in this world, it never really presents us with any life, in all its messiness and vitality, to be understood. Like the alien world being explored, it only presents a strange, beguiling version of it that is ultimately empty.
Bennett Oliver
2022-05-12 21:15:35 +0000 UTCAnnihilation reminds me alot of Prometheus. The rules for the science fiction elements are murky and nonsensical, and the movie acts like it has alot to say when it really doesn’t.
Hart
2022-05-12 02:26:42 +0000 UTCYeah again, Annihilation is fine overall. Not a bad movie, just in comparison to Ex Machina its no contest.
Stephen
2022-05-12 00:46:29 +0000 UTCI need to get around to watching Stalker. One of my gaps in the classics. Maybe after watching it I’d feel the same way, but as a movie on its own, I thought Annihilation was really well done
Jackson Littlewood
2022-05-11 22:04:25 +0000 UTCI voted for Ex Machina because I rewatched it recently for the first time since it came out and was blown away again. But I loved Annihilation when it came out, and I might switch my vote if I rewatch it soon, haha. Both top-tier films for me.
Jim Barnes
2022-05-11 21:52:31 +0000 UTCI wish Annihilation didn’t rely so much on Tarkovsky’s Stalker, but overall I found it fine. Ex Machina is much better despite my issues with the third act. The story is more original and entertaining. Love the dance scene with Oscar Isaac.
Stephen
2022-05-11 21:52:09 +0000 UTCWhat did you think?
Jackson Littlewood
2022-05-11 21:43:05 +0000 UTCReally like both of them to be honest, hard to choose. They both had me really invested
Mees
2022-05-11 21:42:46 +0000 UTCyep, last night
Deepfocuslens
2022-05-11 21:38:59 +0000 UTCDid you watch Annihilation?
Jackson Littlewood
2022-05-11 21:37:38 +0000 UTC
