Alien-Gravity Hybrid Knows how to Push Buttons

Rating: 5/10 (18 July 2017)

It's one thing to go ahead and do a wannabe knockoff of a couple successful science fiction films. Some movie producer saw how the audience got their thrills from "Gravity" and figured there was some money to be made. Despite the recent "Alien" prequels being released, the scriptwriters deftly copied scenes from "Prometheus" and carried on with a non-stop thrill ride that knows it can't stop. A few plot holes help deliver these thrills within a short period of time.
It's another thing to make a watchable wannabe knockoff, and "Life" pulls it off with a cast of Hollywood regulars and decent budget. "Life" wastes no time getting to the nitty gritty. Samples from Mars contain a microbe that goes beyond the average animal (or alien) intelligence. Same goes for the metamorphosis of the microbe, as the film jumps forward in time to show that the alien lifeform has remarkable dexterity, strength, and intelligence. Cue the body count. Like other good horror films, it is a guessing game who gets struck by the sneaky alien octopus. He climbs around trying to escape his captivity with a mind of a human.
I really have to hand it to the guys who rendered the slimy alien in this film, it is top notch. This little fella is seen throughout the movie and is believable as he crawls around, as well as when he crawls into human bodies. Once this smart squirmy alien gets out of his cage, I got this giddy "well, no guessing what's going to happen now" as the story becomes relentless in how smart and capable the intruder is. You'll cringe during the bone-crunching and body-snatching scenes. This little varmint is pretty good at doing all the classic alien encounters.
As for the "Gravity" part of the script, it certainly helps to up the ante by adding the thrills of smashing up a space station. Again, nothing new here, but delivers the goods for those who are excited by the dangers of space. What's nice though as where "Gravity" zigged, "Life" zags. By taking things suggested by the other films to the next extreme, we are given a roller coaster ride that wants to outdo the others.
There is a group of recognisable faces. No single character really reveals any depth. But then again, there's not much time to as our alien gets down to business.
Although I didn't see this in the theatres, I would not have been disappointed. Nevertheless the plot gets a 1 out of 10 for originality. But once you a settled in and gotten over it, you've got a good looking thriller on your hands.