Life

An average sci-fi flick with slightly bad film effects. I am mentioning the effects on purpose, because this film is trying to copy the movie Gravity but you can clearly see that it can’t match its quality. On the other hand, the crew is great and all the actors are extraordinary and definitely won’t disappoint you. And the story? It couldn’t be simpler. It is a classic horror storyline where everybody dies in the end. (18/12/2017)

Very nice cinematography evoking Lubezki’s work with space and a nice pace, which, however, hand in hand with the dull character profiles and the bland appearance of the space creature, makes Life a hilarious piece of B-grade sci-fi fantasy. The tension is there, but compared to Scott's claustrophobic Alien, it's just a miniature concoction worthy of oblivion. (08/12/2017)

Life is missing... life. Although it has a very nice liquid first scene and a very ambitious artistic aspect, even the olm that mutates into an octopus from the second floor is said to correspond to scientific knowledge. However, the rhythm of the film, which has the pace of a beginner driving at a driving school, certainly does not correspond to scientific knowledge. I really don't consider the alternation of tiring and awkward dialogues and action scenes to be the rhythm I want to indulge in in a similar thriller, especially when the motivation for the action is getting more ridiculous every minute. The fact that it’s a B-movie wouldn’t matter - if it hadn't been covered in the needless coat of attempts to create a contemplative A-movie, and if Espinosa hadn't directed with a ruler in his ass, it could have been at least as funny as in the first scenes. (22/03/2017)

A mix of Gravity and Alien, intended to be dominated by man-eating plankton. There can't be much talk about originality, because the creators have obviously had a look at older pieces as well as the new, modern Gravity. The space walks and the destruction of the station are basically indistinguishable from Cuaron's opus (so cool), while the case after the module and the motion sensors look like right out of Alien. And of course there must be a racially and nationally diverse squad of astronauts (gradually dying) and at least twice in the film it must be mentioned that developed countries like Russia, USA, China are involved – exactly in that order! The ending is gratifying but not surprising. Just like Rebecca Ferguson. It’s a thematically heavy sci-fi flick that turns into light entertainment for any given evening. (15/06/2017)

Every year, roaring idiots can look forward to about a dozen almost identical infantile colouring books where a masked clown saves the world from a generic villain, but I would love to look forward to having once a decade a film with a similar budget (and cast and craftsmanship) that will be slightly similar to another film made about 40 years ago. Outrageous! Before the screening, I was hoping for a solid eight (like 8/10), in the end Life is an unconvincing seven, but still fine. I loved the design of the main monster and I enjoyed how several scenes play with zero gravity. In the first half at least, the film looked fairly smart, credible and scientific, but when it switches into thoroughbred B-movie chases (at around the second death), it’s no longer so smart, but what the hell. I also felt that the second half jumps awkwardly between action and “broody” sequences, as if stuff had been edited out so the film would not be too long. Personally, I would’ve also toughened up the horror. The expectation that Life could be something more than a snack before the upcoming Alien – Covenant was not fulfilled. But as a snack, it is pretty decent. (23/03/2017)