So we all know that I’ve established
that I’ve never liked a film in the “Alien” franchise since “Aliens,” as
discussed in my review for “Alien: Covenant.” Even after getting the director
who started it all back for the previous two movies, it ends up being a boring
mess of garbage. You start to ask yourself, can we ever get a good “Alien” film
again, or at least a film that’s “Alien”-ish? Well, look no further than
“Life.”
Directed by Daniel Espinosa, who gave us "Safe House," and
written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, the same duo behind “Deadpool,” we’re
told the story of six astronauts, who discover a life form from Mars, which
they name Calvin. What it turns out to be, is a living multi-celled organism
that is deadly beyond comprehension, and now it’s a game of survival to see who
escapes from this creature.
Now from that description, you would
assume that this is a rip-off of the first “Alien” movie, to which I would say
you’re right. I didn’t see the film during its initial release, due to being
busy with a few projects, and other films getting in the way. Also at the time,
my friend Melinda Core had already seen the movie and did her own review for
it. She wasn’t much of a fan of it, but if you want better details, go and
check out her video. Once the summer time rolled around, I got curious and
decided to check the film out at the discount theatre while I had the chance.
Whether I was still grumpy from
“Alien: Covenant” or if it was just low expectations, I’m delighted to say that
“Life” was definitely more of a true “Alien” film than “Covenant” ever could
be. Because one of the things I loved about this movie was how grounded it felt
in reality. Despite it being an alien horror movie, it never once felt like
this took place in a vastly different world: it feels like this is something
that could happen with our space work today. I also add the touches of CGI that
Espinosa uses, along with Seamus McGarvey’s camera work, to create these
tracking shots as they fly around the ship. Really lets you get used to the
station around you, and how give you a proud sense of claustrophobia.
Even
the characters add to that grounded tone. You have a minimal amount of
characters to get used to throughout this film, and all of them have something
that makes them likable in their own way. They aren’t the cut-and-paste kind of
characters that you’d come to find in either “Prometheus” or “Alien: Covenant,”
people who you see on camera, only to see die because we need to show off death
for our horror movie; “Life,” for lack of a better term so I don’t sound
cheesy, has some life put into each of these characters. It’s a minimal amount,
but you grow attached to them as they all interact with one another.
As for the alien life form, which is
called “Calvin” in the movie, it does play on some of the usual tropes that we
come to expect. Nowhere to run from this creature, it starts off cute but then
goes evil, it’s immune to fire, it gets smarter as the film goes on, it ends up
getting bigger, and it kills people from the inside out. But like I said, the
way it’s presented and how the actors work with it is how it really captures
your attention. It’s transition from a small little puddle like form, into a
spider/manta-ray beast, really keeps you on the edge of your toes as you root
for the team to get away successfully. Also, I got to hand it to this film for
even having the balls to end the way it did. Even though I was predicting it
might go in that direction, the fact that it did makes it all the more
enjoyable.
If I did have any complaints with
the movie, aside from the unoriginality, it would probably be with Jake
Gyllenhaal. Don’t get me wrong, I think he does great in the movie, but it’s
just that his character wasn’t really anything special, especially compared to everyone
else. It personally disappoints me, because Gyllenhaal as of late has been one
of the biggest standout powerhouse actors that I’ve really been rooting for to
get recognition for. He does great, don’t get me wrong, I just didn’t think his
character was the best written.
Of course, I have to now talk about
the rumors that went around this film, and if I was one of those suckers. So
before the film came out, there had been rumors floating around saying that
this film was going to be the origin film for the upcoming “Venom” movie that
Sony is pushing for. First off, you people need to stop trying to associate
everything with a franchise or universe; it’s fucking annoying. Second, this was made through Lionsgate, not Sony. And third, just
because you have an alien movie with a dangerous gooey life form, doesn’t mean
it’s an already established gooey life form from another existing material. This
is the same kind of shit that people did with “Cloverfield” and “Super 8.”
Yeah, remember that going around the internet?
With that said, I came out of “Life”
pleasantly surprised, and glad I got the chance to see it. It may not be a
rip-off of “Alien,” but at least it’s better than all of the films in the “Alien”
franchise from the 3rd then onward. It’s got likable characters, an
entertaining and intimidating monster, excellent direction and photography, and
one bold ending…seriously though, that took balls.
Rating: 8/10
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