A good visual spectacle with a derivative story that it works in its own smaller terms

Rating: 7/10 (24 March 2017)

I recently re watched this film and I must admit it holds up much better than other recent sci-fi pics like "Alien: Covenant". I cannot have enough of space movies: that is the perfect realm to have a bunch of characters faced with the unknown, to reflect on the fragility of the human condition within the grand scheme of the universe, and our limitations in understanding how we fit in it. The discovery of extraterrestrial life would be probably the most poignant ever, raising a myriad of mind boggling questions and yet movies like this insist on taking the most predictable road around it. The one that leads to just another survival endurance test with lots of cgi blood and an undistinguished monster in the middle of it all. Hollywood really has a knack for making the unknown look so familiar I have to say. However, if you can come to terms with the fact that not all movies need to have the ambition of "2001: An Space Odyssey", you might end up enjoying this flick quite a bit. The film starts by hitting some high notes courtesy of the production design and special effects departments, and with the introduction of some very interesting character bits. The story hints early at one of its possible themes, through Jake Gyllenhaal's character: the notion that maybe, to be able to function in space, one would need to be some sort of social outcast, incapable of being able to connect with people on Earth anymore. But this theme is dropped soon enough, and even as a source of suspense, it is downplayed later on in the movie to the gain of mere mayhem. "Life" should have stayed on the path of a science procedural in space, in the vein of "The Andromeda Strain", but probably the screenwriters haven't read enough grown up sci-fi literature to go that way, and it wouldn't have been a "commercial" enough of a choice to grant the big budget. From the entertainment standpoint, the film delivers a couple of good set pieces at the beginning and a surprising and thrilling first death, but then the story settles for the survival fight. I found the alien design and its behavior to be rather to be rather goofy (some of which seems to belong more to Disney's "Flubber" than to a space horror); however, its slushy nature and ability to squeeze in and out of the spaceship contributes to the suspense of many scenes. This is overall a good looking movie with a decent, admittedly tense first half, a rather muddled second act and a twist ending that is B movie gold.