Life (2017)

Review

103min

Genre:       Horror, Sci-fi, Thriller

Director:    Daniel Espinosa

Cast:         Jake Gyllenhaal, Rebecca Ferguson, Ryan Reynolds…more

Writers:     Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick

-Synopsis-

A group of scientists and astronauts—on an Earth-orbiting space station searching for extra-terrestrial life—find what they were looking for but much more than they bargained for, with potentially catastrophic consequences for all in this tense space survival thriller from the director of ‘Child 44’.

The dark and hostile void of space had proven to be fertile ground for survival thrillers, dramas and horrors over the last several decades, and now Swedish director Daniel Espinosa throws his hat into the ring with his own tense and often horrific take on the perils of discovering life beyond Earth . . . with more than a little help from nearly 40 years of sci-fi cinema.

Jake Gyllenhaal and Rebecca Ferguson star as doctors aboard the International Space Station (ISS), as part of an international team which includes scientists and engineers played by Ryan Reynolds, Hiroyuki Sanada, Ariyon Bakare and Olga Dihovichnaya—all on a scientific mission of research and discovery, when they intercept a Mars probe carrying a sample with the first evidence of extra-terrestrial life. But their delight soon turns into concern and then terror when this mysterious and resilient lifeform begins to rapidly evolve and display its fierce survival instincts, leaving the isolated crew in a heart-racing struggle for survival.

Armed with a talented ensemble cast and a considerable if not extravagant budget, not to mention the technical wizardry pioneered by films like ‘Gravity’ to bring it to life (pardon the pun), ‘Life’ combines gut-wrenching space survival thriller with unstoppable creature horror—in a what is essentially a polished b-movie package with something to say about the beauty and brutality of discovery and life’s irrepressible instinct to survive . . . wherever it’s from. Mostly though this is a fairly simple butt-clenching thriller, meant to freak you out from start to finish . . . and on that front it’s mostly mission accomplished.

The immediate comparisons with ‘Alien’ are inevitable here, but director Espinosa walks on a well-trodden sci-fi path with ‘Life’, and is more than just inspired by any number of the tense space survival thrillers which made their mark since the release of Ridley Scott’s 1979 classic—which truly redefined the genre for generations to come. There are echoes here of everything from ‘Sunshine’ to ‘Solaris’, ‘Event Horizon’ to ‘Gravity’, ‘Red Planet’ to ‘Mission to Mars’, and of course the film to which every space sci-fi spectacle of the last 50 years owes something—Kubrick’s ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’.

However, the summary of ‘Life’ as essentially being ‘Alien’ meets ‘Gravity’, which many have already made, is no doubt the best description for this film. Like ‘Alien’ this a horror/thriller about an aggressive and seemingly unstoppable creature being unleashed on an unsuspecting crew in a claustrophobic environment, and like ‘Gravity’ it’s a story set in a more realistic modern-day space environment with zero gravity which is subjected to disaster, leaving the astronauts struggling to survive and return home. But it’s safe to say that ‘Life’ has neither the daring or inventiveness, nor the story or execution to live up to the many films which inspired it, or indeed function as a fitting tribute . . . never mind offering something fresh and memorable to the genre.

The film generally moves along at a brisk pace, only dedicating a small section at the start to fleshing out the disparate characters and their personalities, before vigorously throwing them into quick-thinking survival mode. The result is a relentless momentum which doesn’t give the audience or the narrative a chance to breathe—limiting the effect of the tension and alarm—and which only occasionally gets broken up by an attempt to give the crew some depth, but proves too little too late in terms of getting us fully invested in all the personas and what inevitably happens to them . . . in spite of the best efforts of a talented multinational cast.

Despite the its more realistic setting and a zero gravity environment, like most space sci-fi ‘Life’ requires plenty of suspension of disbelief and has its share of logical inconsistencies, but unlike many a sci-fi classic it doesn’t quite have the accomplished execution or the polished narrative to completely get away them. Mainly thanks to a simple but unpolished script which has early promise with its simplicity—despite being overly familiar—but then disappoints with a predictability that’s just about masked by the film’s style, pace and intensity.

Yet for all its shortcomings—and there are many—‘Life’ has enough tension-filled set-pieces and legitimately unsettling creature horror to make it a distressing and enjoyable horror/thriller ride, thanks to impeccable production designs and striking blue-toned cinematography from Seamus McGarvey, plus a visceral and dynamic if not particularly memorable CGI creature. But ultimately it just doesn’t have nearly enough to make it an insightful or momentous—let alone innovative—piece of science fiction which will stand the test of time.

The Bottom Line…

Intense, unsettling and entertaining, but also derivative, predictable and unimaginative—despite a simple and promising premise ‘Life’ has too many narrative and execution issues to make it an unforgettable or completely enthralling addition to a long established sci-fi canon, but still manages to be a an enjoyably visceral cinematic experience thanks to its big-budget style and a relentless pace.

Similar films you may like (Home Video)

Alien (1979)

When the crew of the ‘Nostromo’ space mining vessel are diverted to a distress signal from a strange planet on their way back to Earth, they soon discover this world isn’t uninhabited when they’re forced to return with an alien stowaway—whose deadly nature they are about to discover, in Ridley Scott’s all-time classic which would influence a genre for generations to come.

Directed by Ridley Scott and starring Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt and John Hurt among others.

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