Alien Appetiser

Rating: 7/10 (17 April 2017)

In the same year as Ridley Scott's official return to the Alien franchise since 1979 (Prometheus wasn't really an Alien movie more a teaser for one), we are given another Alien vs astronauts, Sci Fi horror film from the director of Safe House, the screenwriters of Zombieland and Deadpool, as well as starring Deadpool himself, Ryan Reynolds, and one of the best working actors today, Jake Gyllenhaal. Life is about a group of astronauts that discover alien life, but as it turns out they don't 'come in peace' and now it's a fight for survival. The film is a fun genre thrill ride but doesn't offer anything new to the genre pioneered by Ridley Scott's Alien (1979).
The most enjoyable aspect of this film by far is its genre thrills. The film takes the claustrophobic space horror genre and does it justice. The films sinister tone and nail biting tension are created effectively and there are some decent scares in this film. The film takes its genres formula and uses that formula effectively to create what is a very enjoyable sci fi horror genre film. The film also looks gorgeous, the visual effects are beautiful and the cinematography is OK albeit a little sea sickening with the upside down low gravity scenes. So on a consumer level, this film is good, it looks great and uses a winning formula effectively. The film is also well acted by its whole cast. No one really stands out, Rebecca Ferguson was good, Ryan Reynolds was Ryan Reynolds and Jake Gyllenhaal is good, but isn't on his A game here. But overall there is little to fault the actors on in this film.
Now, what frustrated me with this film was it's ending. I really enjoyed it and thought it was a really good twist, but unfortunately for me it was ruined by a particular fan theory circulating this film. The theory is that this film is the origin story for the upcoming Venom movie. I still love the films ending but having that theory in mind I found myself predicting the films final moments minutes before they happened. I believe the Venom theory to be false and that this is an original standalone film, and the fact a Venom film is coming out is pure coincidence, but either way we will have to wait and see to find out if that was Sony's plan all along.
Also, the film could have tried to be more risky and original to make the film stand out and simply be better. As I said the film uses its genre very well but does nothing new for the trapped-in-space-with-a-malevolent-alien genre. This film is literally a retelling of Ridley Scott's Alien which I like to think I've made clear by the name dropping in my introduction. Character development could also be improved on, as it is attempted to an extent and works with some characters, such as Sho, but the majority of the cast are given little to no background information, and so later plot points had little impact.
Overall, Life is a fun and enjoyable genre film. With fun thrills, a decent cast and beautiful visuals, Life is a winning formula of sci fi horror. Character development could be improved upon and the film could be more risky, but Life acts as a nice appetiser for Ridley Scott's return to Alien with Alien Covenant.