Life (C+ or 2/4 stars)
'Life' (a sci-fi/horror flick directed by Swedish director Daniel Espinosa) has all the right ingredients for a successful movie: stellar cast, claustrophobic atmosphere, slick craftsmanship. But it all doesn't quite add-up to a successful, unique, engrossing sci-fi film experience after all; more on my detailed feelings later. The plot follows the trials & tribulations of the crew manning Space Station's Pilgrim 7 with the purpose of investigating Martian soil samples provided by a capsule that had returned from the Red Planet. The mission specialists have been exploring for 8 months & come from 4 countries: the U.S. (Dr. David Jordan, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, & Rory Adams, played by Ryan Reynolds), the U.K. (Quarantine leader Miranda North, played by Rebecca Ferguson, & biologist Hugh Derry, played by Ariyon Bakare), Russia (Comm. Ekaterina Golovkin, played by Olga Dihovichnaya), & Japan (Sho Kendo, played by Hiroyuki Sanda).
When they discover miniscule signs of life in the soil, they bring it out of suspended animation with glycerin & name him ... 'Calvin'. Their initial delight in seeing translucent, star-shaped Calvin turns to alarm when 'it' grows, shows violent tendencies, and displays both surprising strength & intelligence {nearly indestructible in all ways}. When standard procedures to keep 'it' contained prove wholly inadequate, the mission turns into an intense, oft-foolhardy fight for life: 6 human specialists against 1 alien. All of their lives are expendable as they try desperately to prevent 'it' from reaching Earth. Renowned British scientist Stephen Hawking once said - and I paraphrase - "If aliens ever visit us, it would be like when Columbus landed in America; which didn't turn out well for the American Indians". Chaos ensues.
So ... this is one grim, gross, un-enjoyable creature feature, haha. And it's a little difficult to critique accurately because many aspects of this production are 'well done'. When doing it's sci-fi thing (the futuristic concept seems plausible) ... it's pretty good. When it's amps up the horror (the grisly, violent reality of their dire situation) ... it's pretty good. But the union of the 2 genres is uneven and, since the story in not unique {we've seen oodles of Alien movies over the years}, the 'whole' doesn't completely work. Cerebral art house audiences won't love all the gore & viscera on display. And mainstream horror audiences might find the heavy atmosphere & scientific/existential conversations to be tiresome {"more blood & guts, please!!!"}.
I can say that the film techniques in 'Life' are laudable. Seamus McGarvey's {one of my favorite cinematographers} camerawork is stylish. The set design is beautiful & appropriately claustrophobic; the eerily cramped containment of the space station. The special effects are stellar. The editing is methodical, but not lethargic. There is great tension in the proceedings; well-modulated by director Daniel Espinosa. Jon Ekstrand's musical score is intense & discordant; providing plenty of nervy suspense. And like I said earlier, the cast that was assembled is solid. Having said all of that, this film doesn't really do anything new that we haven't seen before. It's dark, shadowy & creepy {I certainly peeked through my fingers a lot} a la Alien ... but nowhere near as good. And the script - written by those who gave such "LIFE" to Deadpool & Zombieland - is pretty ... DEAD. The tech team & actors try their best to give energy & character to this screenplay.
Speaking of characters, they're just not interesting enough. In fact, most of 'em are annoying. The screenwriters don't do justice to the actors. When you've got such charismatic stars as Gyllenhaal, Reynolds, & Rebecca Ferguson (the sexy spy from Mission Impossible: Rogue One) and you deaden their personalities, that's not good. Jake's character is an oddball; he's used to playing that. Ryan's is a kind of manic jack-ass; he's used to playing that. But they're not given anything truly challenging to do and, again, they're not overly likeable. In a sci-fi/horror flick, you need that rooting factor. All the great craftsmanship, violence & atrocities on display - people torn apart from the inside, a gruesome lab rat death - doesn't mean a hill of beans if there are no characters around to root for. There's good stuff in 'Life', but look elsewhere if you crave originality and/or happy endings in your sci-fi/horror excursions. For better or worse, this ain't The Martian.
When they discover miniscule signs of life in the soil, they bring it out of suspended animation with glycerin & name him ... 'Calvin'. Their initial delight in seeing translucent, star-shaped Calvin turns to alarm when 'it' grows, shows violent tendencies, and displays both surprising strength & intelligence {nearly indestructible in all ways}. When standard procedures to keep 'it' contained prove wholly inadequate, the mission turns into an intense, oft-foolhardy fight for life: 6 human specialists against 1 alien. All of their lives are expendable as they try desperately to prevent 'it' from reaching Earth. Renowned British scientist Stephen Hawking once said - and I paraphrase - "If aliens ever visit us, it would be like when Columbus landed in America; which didn't turn out well for the American Indians". Chaos ensues.
So ... this is one grim, gross, un-enjoyable creature feature, haha. And it's a little difficult to critique accurately because many aspects of this production are 'well done'. When doing it's sci-fi thing (the futuristic concept seems plausible) ... it's pretty good. When it's amps up the horror (the grisly, violent reality of their dire situation) ... it's pretty good. But the union of the 2 genres is uneven and, since the story in not unique {we've seen oodles of Alien movies over the years}, the 'whole' doesn't completely work. Cerebral art house audiences won't love all the gore & viscera on display. And mainstream horror audiences might find the heavy atmosphere & scientific/existential conversations to be tiresome {"more blood & guts, please!!!"}.
I can say that the film techniques in 'Life' are laudable. Seamus McGarvey's {one of my favorite cinematographers} camerawork is stylish. The set design is beautiful & appropriately claustrophobic; the eerily cramped containment of the space station. The special effects are stellar. The editing is methodical, but not lethargic. There is great tension in the proceedings; well-modulated by director Daniel Espinosa. Jon Ekstrand's musical score is intense & discordant; providing plenty of nervy suspense. And like I said earlier, the cast that was assembled is solid. Having said all of that, this film doesn't really do anything new that we haven't seen before. It's dark, shadowy & creepy {I certainly peeked through my fingers a lot} a la Alien ... but nowhere near as good. And the script - written by those who gave such "LIFE" to Deadpool & Zombieland - is pretty ... DEAD. The tech team & actors try their best to give energy & character to this screenplay.
Speaking of characters, they're just not interesting enough. In fact, most of 'em are annoying. The screenwriters don't do justice to the actors. When you've got such charismatic stars as Gyllenhaal, Reynolds, & Rebecca Ferguson (the sexy spy from Mission Impossible: Rogue One) and you deaden their personalities, that's not good. Jake's character is an oddball; he's used to playing that. Ryan's is a kind of manic jack-ass; he's used to playing that. But they're not given anything truly challenging to do and, again, they're not overly likeable. In a sci-fi/horror flick, you need that rooting factor. All the great craftsmanship, violence & atrocities on display - people torn apart from the inside, a gruesome lab rat death - doesn't mean a hill of beans if there are no characters around to root for. There's good stuff in 'Life', but look elsewhere if you crave originality and/or happy endings in your sci-fi/horror excursions. For better or worse, this ain't The Martian.