Life

Daniel Espinosa's 2017 feature is a welcoming addition to the list of claustrophobic thrillers we've seen in Hollywood. Opening with a vast outer space view to the breezily intriguing movements inside Pilgrim 7 Space Station, the mission, both for the crew & film, is stated clearly after life sample capsule from Mars is caught. From here on after, the story is established to be about the specimen arrived into their hands, after it is named as Calvin.

If you dig behind the motivations of these set of scientists, everything has a defined purpose. This whole science experiment is to test whether life can withstand itself on Mars and as according to the circumstances found out, the possibility of humans living on said planet can be conditioned. Thorough research has been done to portray what it is like living on a hanging space hub, Earth's view from space, temperature shift while getting closer to Earth's atmosphere, re-entry into homeland, miniscule science apparatus, sleeping pods and zero gravity.

While the organism that's germinating day by day seems benign & beautiful in the beginning, the actual fun begins when it is grown fully to functionally operate! It grabs Hugh Derry's (Ariyon Bakare) hand as if it seizes you by the throat! Everything falls apart and becomes a superbly intensive ride! The way it penetrates the glove with a sharp electrocuting needle, gobbles up fuel-burning Rory Adams (Ryan Reynolds) from the inside in a blood-floating terrifying death & escapes via a water sprinkler nozzle… man, you've got to watch what's next for the ones onboard!

Before looking at what suppresses this picture from being great, let's talk about the characters. We have 6 of them. The Russian lady, Katerina Golovkin (Olga Dihovichnaya) has the least characterization of all, followed by Ryan Reynolds' character. The guy is funny with his quirky statements & one-liners, but the script offers nothing for us to care about him. Rebecca Ferguson as Dr. Miranda North is the commander in-charge & Hugh Derry is a paralyzed man who develops a connection with anthrax Calvin. We learn a bit about Sho Kendo's (Hiroyuki Sanada) newborn daughter back home through a fantastic birth-giving scene on Skype, providing us something to be concerned about this character. You might be wondering what a terrific talent like Jake Gyllenhaal is doing in this bunch. Well, it is because he has hand-picked to play the one persona with the most flesh! Easily the best character in the entire motion picture. When Dr. David Jordan says he belongs here, as in space, you totally understand why, from his long stay away from Earth. Here's an actor who knows how to grab full-fledged roles at every corner of chances! Coming back to the topic, what's the problem with these dramatis personae? We needed more material to connect them with each other. Each feels estranged from one another, hence it's hard to bother when one dies or survives.

The second largest issue with the feature is… convenience. When the alien is off Rory's leg, he could have been easily let out of the room. But why didn't the screenwriters do so? Because the story wouldn't go anywhere without the first death. Why is communication to Earth went offline out of sudden? Convenience. How did the alien find Katerina right where she's outside at? Convenience. But, the characters' decision making for the most parts is smart! Kat not letting Calvin back in, Sho thrust-firing the killer, sacrificial option at the climax and choosing between leaving it here or let it loose on Earth are some of the examples. Barring one. Why would Miranda allow Firewall 3 which pushes them into deep space if there's an alien encounter? What difference does it make to die so or being killed by the alien creature? This point here made all the characters even more disposable. And it is illogical too, with authorities allowing the death of scientists just like that. With this being said, it is sad to see 2 human beings waiting to die. You'll be wondering why aren't the inhabitants finding a way to exterminate the foreign being before an actual idea is suggested in the screenplay.

Visual effects wise, the alien on stem level looked cartoonish, which same goes to the murder of the mice. But, it became better after getting bigger. Its face design is python-like scary. Notice how it crawls around the sleeping pod with Sho inside. Nodal hologram simulation & practically malfunctioned pair of legs are good! Seamus McGarvey's upside down shots are outstanding. The whole demolition of depot is unnecessary. While it is disturbing to see David Jordan being eaten alive slowly in a descending parachute and the twist pulled off is scary nevertheless, did anyone wonder why the man is still alive even after landing on Earth? Why hasn't the deadly alien had him for lunch already?