"Its Curiosity Outweighs Its Fear!"...

Rating: 7/10 (22 July 2019)

When a capsule returning from Mars is damaged, the crew aboard the International Space Station retrieves it. The capsule contains valuable samples from the red planet. Among the samples, is a single-celled organism. When the specimen is revived, everyone on the station, as well as on Earth, is jubilant. Then, when the creature begins to grow, it displays an astonishing ability to adapt. Not surprisingly, a malfunction occurs in the lab section, and in a short time the ISS crew are thrust into a nightmare battle between species. LIFE is a great movie for alien monster fans. While its setting does bring films like ALIEN to mind, it also has elements from John Carpenter's THE THING, as well as LEVIATHAN, DEEP STAR SIX, and HARBINGER DOWN. The CGI is good and the creature is well-realized. As for the humans, they're adequate, mostly as monster fodder. The illusion of weightlessness is quite convincing, and it's cool to watch the astronauts float through the station. Followers of Jake Gyllenhaal and Rebecca Ferguson will rejoice, while lovers of Ryan Reynolds may wish that his character had more to do...