An Unreasonably Hated Netflix Sci-Fi Thriller That Tells the Truth About Humanity
Written by Robert Scucci | Published
Has this ever happened to you? You go to work at your factory, but you end up tearing your family apart because you keep having horrible nightmares about an impending attack that only you know about. Your daughters hate you because you keep interrupting family nights and losing track of time, and your wife insists you see a therapist because your nightmares keep her awake at night. You have made it clear that you are at his wits end with your silly little dreams.
The specific situation I’m talking about is exactly what happened Extinctiona Netflix Original sci-fi action thriller about the threat of an impending extinction event that won’t reveal itself until it’s too late for everyone on planet Earth to do anything about it.
Ignore That Bad Review Point And Give Extinction A Chance
A total hit on Rotten Tomatoes, Extinction it currently scores a dismal 32 percent against the more favorable Popcornmeter score from the review aggregator. It’s the kind of score that can make you think you’re about to run into a few “what if we get invaded by aliens?” type of foundation.
While you can’t go wrong considering the beats and stories found in this Ben Young-directed film, it’s probably one of the better-directed sci-fi films I’ve seen in recent years.
He was right!
Michael Pena’s Peter may seem like he’s losing his mind because of his vivid dreams of an imminent apocalypse, but Extinction it doesn’t leave you guessing for long. Much to the dismay of his wife Alice (Lizzy Caplan), Peter skips treatment when he learns that other patients are having dreams similar to his, which he interprets as some form of divine intervention, pointing him to what’s to come.
At the party, Peter’s suspicions are confirmed when all hell breaks loose, and a flood of invading spaceships begins to tear the city apart. I don’t know about you, but if I were annoyed by prophetic nightmares, knowing they were a legitimate warning that everyone should heed, I’d stop in my frantic efforts to get my family to safety to briefly say, “Haha, I told you so,” before grabbing a photo album and heading out of town. Of course, I can do everything I can to protect my family, but because my ideas are right, I am now the leader of the group, and everyone has to do what I say.
Aliens Are Not What They Seem
He wants answers back at the institute where he works as an engineer ExtinctionPeter discovers that his boss, David (Mike Colter), knew more about the attack than he initially let on. Some people like Peter should have known about it to figure out how to deal with the tourists who are destroying the whole city right now.
Severely injured during the ensuing disaster, Alice needs immediate medical attention, prompting Peter to force one of the guests to cooperate with him in restoring her vital functions. Meanwhile, his daughters, Hannah (Amelia Crouch) and Lucy (Erica Tremblay), are escorted to a military base, where they will remain safe for the next few minutes….
Special Effects are on point
With a reported budget of only $20 million (chump change compared to the MCU joint), this Netflix Original wins major points for its use of special effects, especially when the alien invasion begins. Extinction it uses dusty and foggy night skies to its advantage, and there’s no doubt in my mind that a boatload of CGI was used to make everything jump off the screen. But the lighting levels are so well balanced that they never once took me out of the movie because the film’s color palette carries the brunt of it.
As the black and gray horizon finds itself under attack, bright pops of red and orange divide the sky, while the sound design that captures what’s happening on the ground is an assault on your ears that’s just as much an assault on the earth, as civilization as we know it may come to its terrifying end.
Extinction it may not boast an original premise, and has received much criticism for its derivatives, leading to its poor reception. But for its production value alone, you should stream it the next time you want to witness the apocalypse from the safety of your home.
