Does so many things right, and yet...

Rating: 6/10 (13 October 2017)

On a clinical, objective level, Daniel Espinosa's "Life" can easily be regarded as one of the most proficient pieces of sci-fi ever made. A story set in the International Space Station mimics that environment and equals (if not exceeds) "Gravity" in allowing us to feel we are really out there in space. It's immaculate and at times awe-inspiring. Beyond that, the spoiler warning is on here anyway, but it is probably no secret to anybody (not least given the title), that this film introduces us to a life form from Mars and has sought - and truly managed - to offer a more convincing portrayal of same than has EVER been achieved on screen before.
So far, so good, but the above use of the words "clinical", "objective" and "immaculate" is not random, for somehow the above virtues cannot overcome a degree of disengagement that the viewer (well this viewer at least) seems to feel. And this happens in spite of an entirely plausible and well-thought-through storyline.
The first problem, then, is that "Life" comes on the scene, not as the first, but as maybe the eighth movie concerning hostile (Martian) alien life-forms brought onto a space station or base. And however slick it may be, that means going over ground that is somewhat familiar by now.
The second problem is the ironic fact that at times this work looks too much like a space mission (and hence not like a movie). Ironic that authenticity might be a bit of a turnoff, but here it works that way. It's hard to recall a film in which Ryan Reynolds and Jake Gyllenhaal get to look like extras, but here that is so. That ensures that less-well-known actors actually do better here. Brit Ariyon Bakare and Brit/Swede Rebecca Ferguson appear (movingly for we British audience-members) with Union Flags on their uniforms, while Hiroyuki Sanada has the Rising Sun on his, and Olga Dykhovichnaya the Russian flag on hers. Perhaps we don't have such great expectations of these lesser stars and so on the whole they don't disappoint. But ultimately it may just be that we out here in audience-land are now too spoilt and too jaded to welcome this efficient and occasionally inspired piece of work as we really ought to.
A pity then, and all the more so since one of the goals of the film - rightly enough - was to force us to contemplate what might ACTUALLY happen were life ever to be found somewhere else in the Solar System.
Given all of the potential positives, it is the genuine hope of this reviewer that younger watchers at least will find this ultimately solid piece of work a bright, shiny and thought-provoking revelation as it has every right to be. But for we over-50s, neither superb effects nor reasonable plausibility can overcome that certain sense of deja vu.