Extinction

When the trailer is better than the actual film...

Extinction. Well, that word just sends the chills down my spine. It has been a while since I've watched an old-fashioned alien invasion film, and no, the "Avengers" does not count. I'm talking about "War of the Worlds" style of alien invasion: gritty, somewhat dark, not over the top, and closely representative of what we would realistically do as we fight or pray for the survival of our race. Although realism is rarely Hollywood's cup of tea, there is always one film lurking around that tries to rejuvenate the film industry's classical origins. "Extinction", within the first 15 minutes, dives straight into a thought-provoking environment that resembles Airstrip One from "1984". You know that it is all alien related, but you are immediately tossed into this confusion where there are gunshots raining down from the sky, people running amok, and this specific character who keeps on asking these vague questions to himself. From that point on, you are drawn into this ominously intriguing vibe and walk yourself through a world where nothing seems right, much like how Winston wanders down the proletarian neighbourhood under the constant surveillance of the Thought Police and the telescreens.

The premise is that a mysterious race of aliens invades Earth and obliterates pretty much every visible intelligence life that they encounter, to the point of extinction. With no clear motives behind the extraterrestrial assault yet, an ordinary family of four runs for their lives away from the hailstorm of alien spaceships. The catch is, however, that the father who goes by the name of Peter (Michael Pena), incessantly experiences these weird dreams and "visions" about the said alien invasion. This mystery factor of "Extinction" is what captivates the most attention from the beginning. Aside from the Terminator-style killing spree that these terrifyingly portrayed aliens go on, there are regular bursts of flashbacks and nightmares in between the story that makes us ask questions and more questions, which is a great start for a thriller film such as this. Unfortunately, the downfalls also become magnified from the get-go, and most of it has to do with the delivery. First, you start with the fact that the main character, Peter, is not all that interesting. To draw a parallel from "War of the Worlds" again, Peter shares many father-like qualities with Ray, both of whom had to square up against the aliens and save their daughters from danger. But obviously, there is a world of difference between Tom Cruise and Michael Pena. No matter how hard I try to unsee Luis the comic relief from "Antman", Pena as an actor doesn't strike me as the righteous hero type. If he had to take the lead, he was born to be a comedian in my opinion, and obviously "Extinction" isn't the correct venue for that.

What I enjoy the most in"Extinction" is the mysterious affair between the humans and aliens. As mentioned before, this interaction is the source of the thrill and once you reach that point of the "grand reveal", you will be very surprised and in fact, impressed by the writing's complexity. The problem is that the entire film fails to bolster the significance of that plot twist, and this speaks to a cascade of other shortcomings specifically in the characters, the dialogue, and the soundtrack. This is a huge missed opportunity to dive deeper into a theme that is worthy of more attention. One could think of the most brilliant idea in the world yet miserably flounder on the execution, and all that matters is the execution. "Extinction" has a wonderful writing scheme, but how could it "look" wonderful if all the characters are dull, if the dialogue is mundane, if the music sounds nonexistent, and if the film doesn't continue exploring the depths of the story? Failing to nail the little details in before boldly launching for the big picture is what ultimately brings "Extinction" down from a satisfying film to a below average one. And sadly, one would have to reconstruct this piece of work from square one, from scratch to make it better.

Moving away from the negativity, I personally found the cinematic technique quite interesting because this is perhaps the first time for me that a full 1.5 hour film felt like an episode from a TV or Netflix series. The shakiness of the camera and the diminished intensity of bright colours could usually indicate a low production budget (which is true, budgeted at only $20 million), but I am more so reminded of the popular show, "Black Mirror". In the case of "Extinction", this works out astoundingly well because it shares the same creepy/ominous ambiance that makes "Black Mirror" so enticing to watch. The acting is also competent enough that everything feels "realistic". Although it just so happens that the characters are monotonously written, the actors do a terrific job, especially the kids, at selling their characters with as much realism as possible. And as a sci-fi film, the designs of the spaceships and the aliens are done in a manner that gives off the similar intimidation factor from "War of the Worlds". They are not flashy or cartoon-ish like in the superhero films, but instead very organic, militaristic and repulsive in the way they look, sound and kill, such that you could legitimately feel the demarcation between the humans and these bloodthirsty aliens, or whatever they truly are.

I'm going to make an unlikely comparison between "Extinction" and "Coco", both of which I watched back to back out of pure chance. The similarity between these two films is the recurring theme of family, and I mention this because it constitutes to a huge chunk of what ultimately drives both films emotionally. For "Extinction", the emotional aspect is completely missing, which could be attributed to any combination of flaws that was mentioned before. While it had a big ambition to delve deep into the secrets behind the aliens, it got carried away and forgot to leave space for the development of the characters and consequently, this idea of family. The opposite is true for "Coco". All tangents aside, you shouldn't expect anything grandiose from a $20 million budget, let alone a film that straight up looks like an extended TV episode. However, if you are willing to shift 80% of your focus towards the writing, "Extinction" turns out to be just as agreeable as the average joe. Unfortunately, for many enthusiasts, writing alone cannot possibly be the sole criterion for enjoying a film, and for that reason, you are much better off revisiting "War of the Worlds" instead.

Alice: Tell me about the dream you had.

Peter: Ok, ok, ok! (Drum roll) So me and my cousin Ignatio met this alien, right? Like this big crazy stupid fine alien...

- maxmetalknight (YouTube)