SPOILER FREE
Let me start by saying that going into this film, I mistook this movies trailer for being apart of the Alien universe, most notably Alien Covenant. That right there should tell you right off the bat one of the reasons this movie underperformed as it wants to be apart of the major ScFi franchise it wishes to be apart of. The storyline to this movie is very similar to Alien with a group of scientists in space uncovering a new species, that ultimately overpowers the crew slowly but surely. The movie moves at a brisk pace and is more intense whereas Alien took its time developing the crew as well as building the anticipation for the aliens arrival on film. The film boasts a likeable supporting cast among the likes of Jake Gyllenhaal and Ryan Reynolds. As a trapped in space type of thriller with a touch of Alien attached to it, Life Is an entertaining and fast-paced thriller, that delivers on suspense while adding virtually nothing new to the genre and that's the problem. One would assume that for a film that tries so hard to be the Alien for modern times, that it would try to bring something new to the table rather than imitate past greatness. Life is a film that understands very well what its trying to do with its audience, which is to keep them in suspense while not making them think too much about the plot in regards to logic and continuity. The technical aspects of the film such as the art-set decoration, costume design, and cinematography are top notch creating a believable yet dark atmosphere for bizarre things to happen. The problem with Life's running time is the film moves so fast letting the audience into this world for 100 minutes almost then letting them out with them not really getting to know the crew as the character development isn't as well-fleshed out as Alien, but the suspense and thrills remain first and foremost the driving force behind the story. As slow as the latter film is, one almost wishes that Lifes pacing was less brisk so the plot and characters could develop on a much deeper and personal level. For those who have short attention spans, Life Is their version of Alien as it's tighter paced and gets right to the point. For those who are expecting deeper story with a high dose of intelligence, they will find the film entertaining overall but become disappointed in the lack of depth the story and characters could've taken.
Despite Life's flaw with its quick pacing, the film isn't deserving of the poor box office it received upon its release although it virtually adds nothing new to the table rather than imitate other great works of art pertaining to those being trapped in space. For the most part, Life is a well crafted science fiction movie, that does what it does best which is to entertain and thrill it's audience for an hour and a half. The performances from the cast are top notch along with the films visuals and cinematography. Despite Life being a watchable piece of entertainment, one questions why the effort was bothered if it didn't try to bring anything new to the table. For effort and entertainment value, Life deserves points as it's more good than bad but it's existence isn't fully justified when most of the time, it's borrowing from other great space works without fully having a life of its own. Overall, Life Is watchable but nothing special, making it worthy of a rental but immediately discarding right after.
7 out of 10
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