Notes

Life Movie Review
Life Movie Review
Providing Passengers hasn't quashed sci-fi fans' appetite for space station horrors, Life could be a hit this summer. Only For Love -up - the crew of an isolated satellite are confronted by an evolving alien lifeform that renders them trapped on board - might sound like a mere retread of Alien, but director Daniel Espinosa's flair and a strong cast help elevate it above run-of-the-mill fare.

The film is set on a liaison spacecraft that hovers just outside Earth's atmosphere and acts as both floating science lab and halfway house, so it's no surprise the six astronauts and scientists find themselves a bit overwhelmed when an automated craft from Mars lands, freighted with rock and dust from the red planet. The scientists eagerly open the container, only to be astonished when a microscopic organism suddenly sprouts. The biologist on the team, Hugh Derry (Arlyon Bakare, buff-upper-body CG-withered from the waist down), feeds the organism glycerin and immediately sees it multiply. He christens it Calvin, and while at first the creature seems innocuous, it quickly turns into a flesh-eating menace.

As the days tick by and Calvin grows ever more aggressive, the other scientists, led by Miranda North (Rebecca Ferguson) and David Jordan (Jake Gyllenhaal), come to realize that the only way to contain the monster is to kill it - which will also destroy their ship and leave them stranded in deep space. They devise a risky plan that ultimately succeeds, although not before most of the crew has been decimated and Gyllenhaal has been forced to trap himself in a pod with Calvin's corpse.

While some of the characters are less well-rounded and more two dimensional than they should be, it's easy to believe these scientists would make such dumb decisions in the face of such an existential threat. Jon Eskrand's music and some excellent sound design add to the sense of dread, while some outstanding performances from the ensemble cast make it easy to care about who lives or dies.

The most impressive aspect of the film, though, is the design and evolution of the titular creature. From its early days as an innocuous single-celled organism to its final incarnation, the movie offers a series of stomach-churning body horror set pieces that are given a unique twist thanks to zero gravity. Whether crushing bones, thrusting its hands into throats or digesting someone in seconds, the creature - brought to vivid life through the magic of CGI - is equal parts creepy and memorably designed.

Even if Life doesn't really do anything that new or different, its slick execution and high-quality performances make it well worth your time. As long as you can overlook the inevitable wah-wah ending, it might just be the hottest popcorn blockbuster of the year.
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