Jason Posted July 30, 2018 Share Posted July 30, 2018 The opening paragraph of this review is pretty damn spot-on, including what my thought process was when I got the email form Netflix about this movie on Saturday morning: Quote The new Netflix film Extinction stars Michael Peña and Lizzy Caplan as a married couple who try to keep their family alive during a mysterious alien invasion. It’s the kind of premise that makes you think “Oh, I’m gonna watch the hell out of Extinction.” So I did. However, when the final credits rolled, two things were abundantly clear: I totally understood why everyone involved would want to make this movie—and also, why no one should have. https://io9.gizmodo.com/michael-penas-alien-invasion-movie-extinction-is-mostly-1827874725 And from February: Quote Only days after Netflix surprise-released Paramount’s feared flop The Cloverfield Paradox, the online platform has bought the rights to the Michael Peña, Mike Colter, and Lizzy Caplan-starring alien invasion film Extinction, a movie that’s been sitting on Universal’s shelf for months. I’m starting to notice a trend here. https://io9.gizmodo.com/netflix-saves-scifi-film-extinction-from-well-extinct-1822844421 At one point I actually asked the person I was watching with if this was a Netflix Cloverfield movie. I'd say it's enjoyable enough if you want to watch it with someone and goof on the movie while you're watching it (that's what my viewing session turned into), but that you definitely shouldn't bother watching it by yourself. Also I was convinced Lizzy Caplan was Zooey Deschanel until I looked he movie up on IMDB. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted July 30, 2018 Author Share Posted July 30, 2018 One of the commenters at the review does make a good point though: Quote it seems pretty clear to me that the uh, robotic and phoned in acting is part of the twist don’tcha think? As in, those bad decisions being made has to (and I’m struggling not to actually say the twist) do entirely with what the twist is?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted July 30, 2018 Author Share Posted July 30, 2018 And someone responded with a link saying that it was in fact an intentional decision: Quote Taking on the part of a robot that thinks it’s human might not be the most original role, but it’s still a tough one. In Extinction, Michael Peña and Lizzy Caplan both had to act human enough not to spoil the twist early on, but also robotic enough that the film would make sense when watched a second time. “For me, what I tried to do is portray him as very confused and not a lot of energy,” Peña said. “Almost a lot of preconceived notions of how people would react. Like, I should be reacting like this. I should be reacting in this manner. And some people that haven’t seen it or whatever. They might think like wow. This guy’s really boring. They might not understand it yet, but it was a very deliberate thing in order to work out. It was tough because as an actor you want to live in every scene but sometimes you just can’t.” Peña said he was particularly impressed with Caplan’s performance and the way she spoke with a distinct, almost robotic rhythm that you might not notice if you aren’t listening for it. Pay extra attention to her acting in one particular scene early on where she’s lying in bed telling a story to their two daughters. “You clock that as an actor afterward,” Peña said, “and you’re like wow she had this whole thing planned out.” https://www.inverse.com/article/47494-extinction-ending-explained-spoilers-ahead I get it, but you have to wait until pretty long into the movie to get to the twist, which means you're spending a lot of time sitting there through a relatively frustrating experience. It also kind of felt like the movie was trying to do a little too much at the moment they dropped the twist on you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hurdyb1 Posted August 6, 2018 Share Posted August 6, 2018 I wanted to watch this with enthusiasm from the trailers but the reviews seem pretty consistent with this one. I will eventually watch it just to satisfy my curiosity. I too though that Lizzy and Zooey was the same person for a very long time, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atom631 Posted August 6, 2018 Share Posted August 6, 2018 Ive sat down to watch this twice and just loose interest within the first 20 minutes. Its so slow. I will have to give it a serious attempt soon though..maybe when i wrap up the 2nd season of Handmaid's Tale Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted August 6, 2018 Author Share Posted August 6, 2018 4 hours ago, atom631 said: Ive sat down to watch this twice and just loose interest within the first 20 minutes. Its so slow. I will have to give it a serious attempt soon though..maybe when i wrap up the 2nd season of Handmaid's Tale Like I said, watch it with someone else if possible, if you're watching it by yourself I can see why you'd find it hard to sit through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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