LIFE (2017)

 'LIFE' tells the story of a space expedition gone south, something we've never seen before right? You might be surprised to learn that 'LIFE' actually has some great things about it, from its performances to its strong suspense. It's only when the film comes to its conclusion that it falters into the tropes it tried so hard to avoid with the first two acts and the ending left me very unsatisfied however we will not spoil here. The film stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Rebecca Ferguson, Ryan Reynolds, and Hiroyuki Sanada and everyone here does excellent jobs with the material given. The film is deeply grounded in science fact rather than science-fiction even down to the creature itself 'Calvin' who evolves and works just like any living organism would and its this realism that really helps 'LIFE' stand out among the other 'Alien' knock-offs of late.

The performances also help with the tension and what could have devolved into the usual horror tropes and this is because you truly care about them all. No one is singled out as the 'first to go' that many will see in films such as this, and many characters you truly love will end up dead and that genuine emotion really feels like a breath of fresh air in this now cliche heavy genre. As stated before, the film grounds itself in reality pretty heavily, and it really brings the tension up a notch. This feels like it could really happen, as 'Calvin' is not some sinister and deliberately evil creature but rather its just an animal trying to survive and living upon its instincts as any other living organism would. You still want to see it gotten rid of sure, but its the first time I've seen a sci-fi/horror flick establish the creatures attacking as simply following their biological makeup and only seem evil to us.

However, 'LIFE' in its final moments completely disintegrates into a cliche and predictable final act and its frustrating to see a film throw away its best aspects with only 30 minutes to go. It felt as if the screen writers (who wrote the excellent 'Deadpool' and 'Zombieland' films) just got tired of what they were typing up and just gave up with the ending we get now. It's really unacceptable considering the time and effort put into the film as a whole. 'LIFE' is still a well put together Sci-Fi film that I recommend highly, and this year as a whole has been great (though this would be a little lower on the bar). It's just that ending man, that damned ending that spoils the milk for me.

LIFE: B-