Life (2017)
The newest installment in the Trapped-In-Space genre stars Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler), Rebecca Ferguson (Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation), and Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool) and is directed by Daniel Espinosa (Safe House)

The Plot
After a crew of scientists recover samples of life from mars, they study a creature (later named ‘Calvin’) as it grows. Little do they know how quickly it will grow and how big it will get, until they find themselves fighting to stay alive when it gets loose.

Let’s talk positive for a sec
I really liked what they did with the alien as far as where it starts, how it grows, and the way it functions and interacts with its surroundings, as well as how they gave Calvin some character. You can really understand that its first choice is not violence, but will defend itself against what it feels is threatening him. We see this during a scene that worked really well for me as it kicks off the main plot, along with some effective tension building, good acting, great special effects.

Some Drawbacks
The movie tries to give reasons to care about the members of the crew, but it doesn’t really work. It seemed more interesting to see what Calvin would do with someone than to see how they might survive and I really started to lose interest about three quarters of the way through the movie. Another reason for this may have been that several moments are predictable, though they do throw in a few I didn’t see coming

In Conclusion
It is a decent B movie with good acting, cinematography and effects, doing some interesting things with the alien life form, which, for a movie that’s basically an Alien rip-off, really isn’t anything like the Xenomorph in Alien.

MPAA rating – Language throughout, some Si-Fi violence and Terror.

Worth seeing if this seems interesting to you and you are ok with the violence and tension, though I wouldn’t spend too much on it.

 

Fun Facts

Life is written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, who recently worked with Reynolds when after writing Deadpool

The movie had a $58 million budget and will be lucky to make $30 million with its recent box office turnout

It opened against Power Rangers, while Beauty and the Beast made the majority of ticket sales with its second week