The octopus-like monster at the center of Life resembles the slimy offspring from Guillermo Del Toro's Hellboy (the giant octopod at the end). Having been named Calvin by a group of children on Earth - as the astronauts who discovered him broadcast a live transmission from ISS (International Space Station) across planet Earth - the alien, initially the size of a child's hand, quickly grows into a rather large monstrosity as it feeds on the crew members (including a tiny white mouse) in order to expand. Such are the biological needs of a life form that's been dormant on Mars for who-knows-how-long.
The similarities between Life and Alien (1979) are clearly present, but in general structure only. What's missing here, when compared to that Ridley Scott sci-fi thriller, is a quiet sense of impending doom, and a subtle build-up to the carnage to come. Oh, and did I mention that the cast - which includes Jake Gyllenhaal, Ryan Reynolds and Rebecca Ferguson - as cosmetically gifted as they may be, simply lack that compelling, fearsome fire that Sigourney Weaver brought to the aforementioned iconic franchise. Not even when some of them get slaughtered do we give much of a shit.
More than anything, Life suffers because it has nothing new to offer to a genre that has already reached near exhaustion (Alien: Covenant also lacked originality), and even with a near $60 million budget, it just feels like an expensive B-movie. The twist at the end (involving two pods heading to different destinations), however, is pretty neat. If only the ninety minutes that preceded it were as compelling.
C
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