Review of Life (2017) by Beteley R — 21 Apr 2017

This review contains spoilers.

The original ALIEN still remains my favorite Sci Fi film. The simplicity of such a horrifically scary monster who is trapped on a spaceship knocking off one astronaut at-a-time was just done so well, I have had a hard time seeing any filmmaker create anything that has it beat.

LIFE offers nothing new to this genre but for the modern CGI work created since 1979. But when it comes to the writing - and it more than often does - the premise for LIFE is just ridiculous.

If Twilight Zone episodes used really cheesy sets and props and STILL had the cool effect on the viewer that they did, it's because the writing was so good. The same could be said of the original Star Trek from 1966. So in 2017, I believe that audiences have become more sophisticated when it comes to knowledge of science and some of the realities that might go down in a controlled environment like a lab in a spaceship. If the entire mission of the journey is to retrieve potential samples of life from Mars, the protocols for the main scientist, (the character named Hugh played by Ariyon Bakare), would have prevented the dangerous experimentation that he does which of course will destroy everyone aboard - and even beyond that.

It's. Just. Stupid.

When another character says something about the creature being more 'curious rather than having fear', you should well know it's time to kill the fucker right there and then as Ryan Reynolds' character wanted to do!

It's. Just. Stupid.

When you have people in the audience groaning because Hugh is using some kind of super strong rubber gloves to allow this life form to make direct contact, you know ..

It's. Just. Stupid.

And the audience I saw this with was not only moaning but laughing at the character as well. Or is it the filmmaker we were all laughing at?

*******.

Now, all that said: It scared the crap out of me anyway.

Although practically every frame is terribly predictable, when the action is taking place, the jump points still can sting pretty good. The 'specimen-turned-monster' has got some deliciously frightening moves and the cinematography is very well done. The feeling of weightlessness is also captured well. There is something that gives the viewer a sense of everything moving more slowly as a result which affects the way we see the incredibly fast movements of the creature in comparison. Just frightening.

Another film I was reminded of that was even more gruesome but much more fun to experience was the 1982 remake with Kurt Russell of THE THING. That fucker took on several different shapes and moved all over the research facility so quickly it was startling. And although the creature in LIFE starts out tiny and kind of spindly in movement, the insatiable appetite and enormous fluid shape and size that it takes on makes any octopus seem like a potential threat in the real world!

So, while LIFE suffers from a shear lack of imagination or originality, I do applaud the nice turn at the very end, although it, too was predictable.

And lordy: please let there not be a sequel which looks like they are anticipating! I hope this thing burns at the box office so badly that no one green lights a continuation.

Besides, it makes scientists look back and...

It's. Just. Stupid!