Extinction tells the story of a family man in the near future named
Peter (Michael Peña) who has been suffering from recurring nightmares of an
attack from mysterious enemies. His
condition begins to put a strain on his relationship with his wife Alice (Lizzy
Caplan) and daughters (Amelia Crouch and Erica Tremblay), but he also starts contemplating
that these may not be just any ordinary dreams – these could be visions of
impending destruction. And soon enough,
alien invaders arrive from space one night, killing anyone on sight and causing extensive devastation in their path. As the city spirals
into chaos and war, Peter must lead his family to safety while processing the shocking
secrets revealed to him.
As a science fiction thriller film, Extinction is not that mindblowing. But I feel that if it had come out in the 60’s, it would have become a classic. I don’t know. There’s just something about its themes and concepts that make it feel dated for that earlier era, and if so, would have made a big impression then. In addition, I could totally see its production working more endearingly with old-fashioned effects, props, and costumes.
As a science fiction thriller film, Extinction is not that mindblowing. But I feel that if it had come out in the 60’s, it would have become a classic. I don’t know. There’s just something about its themes and concepts that make it feel dated for that earlier era, and if so, would have made a big impression then. In addition, I could totally see its production working more endearingly with old-fashioned effects, props, and costumes.
Make no mistake. I’m not necessarily lampooning the movie. I meant the previous paragraph in a positive way. It’s a deeply flawed movie, but I actually
enjoyed it.
It’s probably mostly because it
delivers a series of mostly unoriginal but genuinely surprising plot twists. I didn’t really see any of them coming. And what makes them further good is they have
this antiquated, Twilight Zone-ish flavor
to them. The last revelation though – which
explains (SPOILERS) the voluntary erasure of memories of Peter and the others –
didn’t work for me. It was like the
writers weren’t able to figure out a smarter, more creative explanation. But other than that, the plot twists are solid.
All in all, Extinction is a sufficiently entertaining science fiction thriller that has an average story but arguably some of the biggest movie plot twists of the
year.
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