Movie Review: Life (2017)

Synopsis: While examining a soil sample from Mars, a team of scientists on board the International Space Station discover an inert single-celled life form and revive it so they can study it. However, when the alien creature grows at a rapid pace and becomes dangerous, they must find a way to destroy it before it kills all of them and finds a way to Earth.

Who's in it? The movie stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Rebecca Ferguson, Ryan Reynolds, Hiroyuki Sanada and Ariyon Bakare.


Review: I received this movie on DVD from Netflix in August and, for a variety of reasons, just never got around to watching it. My wife pointed this out to me a couple days ago and, after losing interest in A Christmas Story Live, we ended up watching this film instead.

Science fiction movies are a bit hit or miss (at least in my opinion) and I wasn't really sure what to expect from this film as a result. But, it turned out to be a pretty good movie.

The thing I found I liked most about this film was the alien, nicknamed Calvin, seemed impossible to stop. It could change its shape just enough to slip into the tiniest crevices (which is the reason it escaped in the first place), was seemingly indestructible and could kill any living thing it came in contact with in a matter of seconds. This put the scientists tasked with stopping it in a hopeless situation.

Adding to the movie was the fact this took place in the confines of the ISS. There were very few places to run and the slightest mistake could wipe out the entire space station and send everyone into space. The fact Calvin could single handedly wipe out the planet below them added another element of danger since the fire-proof alien creature could even survive re-entry if it came to that.

My only real complaint about the movie is the ending was a little predictable, with a surprise twist that didn't really surprise my wife or me. But, even that still managed to be entertaining, especially since the plan to stop Calvin required surviving the creature long enough to stop it with no sure bets. And, while the ending didn't really surprise us, the overall movie was still good enough to make up for it.

Final Opinion: This is a good science fiction thriller that kept my wife and I interested throughout. I would recommend taking the time to watch it as a result.

My Grade: A

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