Review of Life (2017) by Thequietgamer — 16 Oct 2017

Another entry in the post-Alien sci-fi horror scene. Life fares much better than it's contemporaries thanks to director David Espinosa's ability to craft tension and keep the tone free of aby cheesiness. The attention to detail brings a necessary dose of realism to the space station setting that makes a lot of difference. The complications and dangers inherent to their surroundings serves as a nice way of upping the difficulties the scientists face while trying to keep the intelligent and deadly alien lifeform from reaching earth.

Where Life doesn't succeed to strongly is in having it's talented cast play interesting characters that we care about. It's ultimately not too big of a deal as the whole point is basically about watching the alien kill them, but there are a few moments where we witness the cast have moments where they struggle with what they believe are their final moments. Because we form no connection with them, these moments are boring, lack meaning, and don't have any sort of impact on the audience. But hey, the death scenes are cool. Blood looks good in zero gravity. A few dull spots get in the way of thrills here and there, but overall Life proves to be a successful Alien-influenced horror flick. It's just a shame the talented cast aren't given much room to grow in their characters, but the alien does and it is fun to watch them fall prey to it. If you like these kinds of films, Life may not blow you away, but it won't disappoint either.