In the name of scientific research (or of narrative convenience) the head researcher (British actor Ariyon Bakare) decides to jump-start the organism out of its stasis, and is rewarded by a rapidly growing glob of gelatinous malice. The satellite contains Martian soil samples, within which is an inert single-celled organism: incontrovertible proof of life on Mars. With this stunning set piece, cinematographer Seamus McGarvey more than meets the challenge set by Emmanuel Lubezki’s Oscar-winning work on Gravity. But although this is undeniably an Alien rip-off, it’s an Alien rip-off that announces itself with a dizzyingly audacious zero-gravity single-shot sequence in which Ryan Reynolds wrests a wounded satellite out of orbit using a rob otic grabber claw. And if that premise sounds more than a little familiar, that’s because Daniel Espinosa’s enjoyable sci-fi horror movie shares narrative DNA with everything from Tarkovsky’s Solaris to Danny Boyle’s Sunshine to, most glaringly of all, Ridley Scott’s Alien. Jake Gyllenhaal is particularly listless as a ship’s doctor who doesn’t want to go back home.Īnd just when you think the dialogue couldn’t get any worse, the children’s picture book “Goodnight Moon” becomes part of the plot.T he crew of a space station is picked off, one by one, by an extraterrestrial life form which seems to view the human contents of the craft as some kind of alien finger buffet. Other than Ryan Reynolds in a handful of scenes as a wisecracking engineer (basically playing his “Deadpool” character in space), there’s no sense of humor, adventure or resourcefulness. Espinosa and cinematographer Seamus McGarvey use the claustrophobic space station to their advantage - aided by a visual effects crew that keeps the action seamless in weightless environments.īut the crew is a complete drag.
The alien, a jellyfish/starfish/python hybrid, is arguably the most interesting character onscreen. T just kept beating Sylvester Stallone up a little more with each fight.ĭirector Daniel Espinosa ably manages the technical side of the movie. “Life” is like watching a “Rocky” movie if Mr. Even if the alien ultimately wins, you want to see humanity putting up a decent resistance. But this movie is in desperate need of its own Matt Damon, using science to fight back against the threat.
The gripping first horror scene - involving our biologist ( Ariyon Bakare) in an arm wrestling match with the lab specimen - is promising.
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