Life - Movie Review

Something about outer space brings an inherent feeling of discomfort. Maybe it's the fact that space is so vast and endless, and the only means of survival we have are small, contained, and limited. Space is, in many ways, the perfect setting for a horror film. The only real problem with this seemingly perfect match is that there are only so many stories that can be told within the confines of the setting and the genre. There have been quite a few films that have followed the typical story beats, to varying degrees of success. But there are only so many times that a film can have a group of humans encounter an alien, get picked off one by one, until they eventually a solution is found. The formula works, but I'd be lying if I said it wasn't getting a bit stale. Really, there's only so much you can do with a set-up like this.

In Life, after recovering a probe of biological samples from Mars, the crew of the International Space Station discovers a single-cell organism - the first proof of life beyond Earth. As they test the sample - which is dubbed "Calvin" - it begins to grow larger and larger. It also begins to become more intelligent, and as it seeks to continue to grow and evolve, the humans lie in the way of survival. The crew of the ISS attempts to survive while "Calvin" does the same, and it becomes clear that if the creature makes it down to Earth, it could mean the end of humanity.

The main problem with Life is that it doesn't really bring anything new to the table. This film is essentially a mash-up of Gravity and Alien; a scientifically-focused crew of people in space, with an alien who is growing, learning, and evolving loose on their "ship." The tropes and general story of the genre is told almost exactly as it has been before, and there are next to no surprises. The only moments that work come from some clever foreshadowing; Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick know how to write a good script, there's no disputing that. But what the characters say and do exists separately from how the movie feels, and it feels like a less impressive version of films that I've seen before. Comparisons to Gravity will be made by quite a few people, but that's only because the film opens with a long tracking shot that feels like it was taken right out of that film.

What keeps Life from being a completely boring, predictable flat-line is the cast. The crew of the ISS is very diverse and very talented, and bring a lot of humanity and emotion to characters who aren't quite as well-developed as the script seems to think they are. Blatant exposition and archetypal writing take up the majority of the film's opening, so while the characters are clearly defined, it moves a bit too quickly to establish quirks or reasons for sympathy. The film moves along at a consistently fast pace, but it needs more time to breathe at the beginning. Intensity may have been increased if things didn't go wrong for the characters so quickly, and if there weren't so many slow points between the kills. I'm not saying that it should have been an hour of build-up and then nothing but gore for the rest of the film, but some characters go too quickly to care.

The creature itself is a huge point of unoriginality. It resembles the head of the creature from Stranger Things, if it was bigger and had a sort-of-face hidden inside. The familiar, tentacle-monster-style design makes it difficult to see it as too threatening, and it's never quite clear why it's so intelligent. The characters talk about how it's "all muscle and all brain," but "Calvin" is somehow able to understand the complexities of how the ISS operates, and functionalities that it shouldn't have been able to figure out based on how it develops. That's not to say that there aren't some appropriately gory and intense scenes involving the creature. A few shots and moments created physical reactions in the theatre for me, so this film is capable of grabbing attention. It's very watchable as a whole, but there are long stretches where it's difficult to remain invested.

Because I was fairly disengaged, just waiting to see who was going to die next, my mind started to wander a lot. One thing I couldn't help but think about was the enormity of the discover of "Calvin," and in such a scientifically-focused setting, surely the reaction to FIRST CONTACT WITH LIFE BEYOND EARTH should have been focused on a bit more than just a joke that's quickly moved past. The lack of real isolation is what makes the impact of the discovery not work; the characters are in contact with mission control and are shown to have Skype calls with children, which are broadcast in Times Square. The isolation and claustrophobia are broken by showing such an enormous amount of contact, even later when communication systems are disabled (and I don't think it's ever explained why). There are no wider questions about the implications of life beyond Earth, or the ramifications of destroying it. The only question of the film is "Who's going to die next?" That question isn't enough to drive the film after a certain point, and there's not much else to think about.

While Life does flow together well, a large percentage of the film feels like scenes from other films being recreated. The characters fit into similar boxes: "the scientist who forms an emotional attachment to the creature," "the one with a kid on Earth," "the one who likes space better than Earth," "the one who makes jokes," etc. The characters fill the roles they need to fill, and rarely do more. Jake Gyllenhaal is the core of the film, and is the most engaging presence on-screen. None of the other characters leave too much of a mark beyond some memorable death scenes. The ending tries to go for a final "gotcha" moment, but it's pretty clear what's going to happen. It's an interesting ending, and I'm sure many people will be surprised for it, or consider it "ballsy." But rather than feel surprised or impressed, I just felt nothing. Much like the majority of the film.

I hesitate to say that Life had a lot of potential, because it's so unremarkable among the "lost in space" genre. It's hard to think of "solutions" that would improve the film, because it's bland to the core. Even Ryan Reynolds - who gives a performance that can best be described as "Ryan Reynolds" - somehow didn't charm me. I will give credit to the writers for not making every character act like a complete idiot, which is something to praise in a film like this. Life has a few moments that really work, but they're buried in a film that just barely scrapes by. If you're looking for a film to bring a new level of horror to outer space, you won't find it here. The visual effects are great, but not revolutionary. The characters are fine, the creature is fine, the story is fine, everything is just fine. It's all perfectly serviceable, but with such a talented creative team behind it, I definitely expected more.