Life straddles science fiction and horror genres

Movie Title:  Life

Grade:  B+

Rating: R, 103 minutes

In a Nutshell: This is an extremely suspenseful and entertaining film that tries to straddle both the science fiction and horror genres.  

It presents an interesting “what if” scenario that is fairly believable and realistic.

The outstanding cast includes Jake Gyllenhaal, Ryan Reynolds, Hiroyuki Sanada, Rebecca Ferguson, Ariyon Bakare, and Olga Dihovichnaya. 

If you can’t get enough of aliens, you’ll be glad to know that Alien Covenant is coming out May 19 in the United States.

Uplifting theme: 

• “Its curiosity outweighs fear.” – Hugh Derry (Ariyon Bakare)
• Life, survival, sacrifice, loyalty, friendship, curiosity

Things I liked:

• The CGI is excellent.  It definitely doesn’t look like they put actors in front of a green screen.  Everything is really believable.
• Named after Calvin Coolidge, the alien first elicits “awww’s” from the audience and then “EEK!”  You get to see plenty of the alien.  My son’s name is also Calvin, named after his grandfather and great-grandfather, who were also aliens.  Just kidding…about the alien part.
• There is an extremely impressive shot that is very long without cuts, showing the space station and the people working inside.
• The book Goodnight Moon book takes on new meaning when read while circling around the moon.
• Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese also wrote Deadpool and were happy to work with Ryan Reynolds again, who has all of the snappy one-liners in the flick. He was going to play the lead character, but his schedule conflicted with his role in the upcoming movie "The Hitman's Bodyguard", so he had to take a supporting role instead.  This is also the second time Ryan Reynolds has worked with Director Daniel Espinosa (Safe House).  By the way, have you seen the special, short clip of Deadpool before the movie Logan plays on screen in theaters?  Hilarious.
• I’m always fascinated with how they make space movies and show actors almost swimming through the space station.  I love it when items float in the air, especially tears.  In the film you often see drops of blood float, symbolism the very essence of life.  By the way, the actors said that the best thing about filming a space movie is wearing a Onesie and socks all day.  ha ha

Things I didn’t like:

• There are some really disgusting moments and super gory deaths that made the audience I sat with groan and moan.
• I really like Jake Gyllenhaal and find him almost mesmerizing to watch in all of his movies, but his character in this film seemed underdeveloped and one dimensional. 
• Rumors have been swirling that this is a prequel for a future marvel "Venom" movie.  Nope.  Not true, although it would be a good back story.

Interesting lines:

• “We’re looking at the first proof of life before earth.” –  Hugh Derry
• “What I feel is not rational.  It’s not scientific.  I feel hate.” – Miranda North (Rebecca Ferguson)
• “No life support, no life.” – Hugh
• “Life’s existence requires destruction.” – Hugh
• “Calvin doesn’t hate us, but he has to kill us in order to survive.” – Hugh
• “I can’t stand what we do to each other down there.” – David Jordan (Jake Gyllenhaal)
• “It’s hard to watch people die…like fireworks.” - David

Funny lines:

• “Woo!  Cue Instagram!” – Rory Adams (Ryan Reynolds)
• “This is some re-animator shxx!” – Rory

“That’s some kind of obscure reference!” – Miranda

“Not if you’re a nerd.” – Rory

• “Control, if you’re listening and I know you are because you’re creepy that way…” – Rory
• “Seriously, that kid had blue eyes.” – Rory
• “It was all going so well.” – Hugh

Tips for parents:

• Profanity, including F-bombs
• Bloody, violent, gruesome deaths.
• The alien itself isn’t that scary looking.  It kind of looks like an octopus in the end.