LIFE REVIEW

*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*

Judging from the premise, you'd be right to assume that Life is basically a modern day Alien but with better special effects. It's impossible to ignore the similarities between the two films. However, Life still manages to be an incredibly dark and tense science fiction film. 

Life tells the story of the six-member crew of the International Space Station that is on the cutting edge of one of the most important discoveries in human history: the first evidence of extraterrestrial life on Mars. The crew includes: Rory Adams (Ryan Reynolds); David Jordan (Jake Gyllenhaal); Miranda North (Rebecca Ferguson); Ekaterina Golovkina (Olga Dihovichnaya); Sho Murakami (Hiroyuki Sanada) and Hugh Derry (Ariyon Bakare). As the crew begins to conduct research, their methods end up having unintended consequences, the life form proves more intelligent than anyone ever expected and their mission soon turns into a kill-or-be-killed situation. 

The film has an optimistic opening with the crew successfully receiving a sample from Mars that could prove there's life on earth. Unfortunately, it doesn't take long for things to take a disastrous turn when one of the crew members is left injured by the extraterrestrial being (named 'Calvin' by a schoolgirl who won a competition) while another is killed in a gruesome way. This leads to the remaining crew having to make quick and drastic decisions while trying to avoid being killed by 'Calvin'. 

Speaking of which, Calvin's appearance is hard to describe. It looks like a giant starfish that moves like a squid. It kills its victims in a truly gory way so if you're squeamish, I would suggest you avoid watching this. In Alien, the members of the crew were killed off-screen, however, director David Espinosa takes a different approach and shows us each victims death. This is where most of the horror comes from. While the characters aren't fully developed, it's not hard for us to feel for them. The crew clearly have a close bond and seeing different people being killed not only affects the audience but the character themselves. For instance, there's one scene where Jordan is watching Golovkina who is being attacked by the alien from the other side of the door. Despite his efforts, he is unsuccessful and watches as her dead body drifts away. This is one of the most heartbreaking scenes in the film. 

The performances are solid all round. The three 'leads', Reynolds, Gyllenhaal and Ferguson give strong performances. Despite his limited time on-screen, Reynolds manages to bring comic relief with his one-liners and also proves he's capable of handling a dramatic and tense role. I'm yet to see Gyllenhaal give a bad performance and I still can't understand why he hasn't been awarded with an Oscar. While his performance here isn't worthy of any awards, it still proves his versatility as an actor. Since making her breakthrough appearance in the fifth Mission: Impossible film in 2015, Ferguson has come a long way and has given strong supporting performances in films such as the Oscar-nominated Florence Foster Jenkins and The Girl on the Train. However, in Life, she proves she capable of handling a leading role and portrays Miranda North as a brave individual. If there's an Ellen Ripley-type character in this film, it's her. Life succeeds in featuring a diverse cast. Yes, the leads are portrayed by two Americans, however, the supporting roles are all worthy of a mention. Dihovichnaya, Sanada and Bakare all portray their characters as memorable individuals. I have read some reviews stating that the characters are hard to connect with as they're not given much background. While it is true that the characters are thinly written, they're still human beings in a nightmare-inducing situation so it's hard not to care for them. A character doesn't need to be fully developed in order for the audience to feel for them. All of the actors give good enough performances that I believed their emotions and the struggle they felt at losing a friend.
I've also seen a few complaints about the script but I think that writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick have crafted a thrilling sci-fi horror. Despite the characters being thinly written, both Reese and Wernick have created a great mix of smart characters who remain strong and vigilant throughout. I doubt the filmmakers were thinking of creating a film that is just as good as Alien, I think that their main intentions were to create a film that has a equal blend of science-fiction and horror and thrills its audiences for the 103 minute runtime. And, fortunately, they have succeeded. 

Life is at its most dark and intense in its final climax with the two remaining survivors who have obviously been effected by this whole traumatic experience. However, they still remain strong and soon come up with a plan. Unfortunately, this involves one of them remaining behind in space with the alien while the other escapes to earth and warns them of the dangerous extraterrestrial being. What I liked most about this was that the ending had a clever twist that I honestly didn't see coming. It's very ominous and provokes thoughts from the viewer and makes them wonder: what happens next? I don't think there'll be a sequel but it's fun to think of the events following Life's ending.

While Life isn't the best science-fiction film to be released, it's far from a bad film. For those looking for a film that mixes the two genres of sci-fi and horror really well, don't mind a scare or two and can handle heavy violence, look no further than Life.

7/10