A rather failed attempt of delivering a quality space thriller

Rating: 6/10 (22 August 2018)

After receiving samples from Mars, scientists aboard the International Space Station start to investigate if any traces of life are present. Their discovery will prove to one of humanity's greatest leaps but also one that leaves a lot of mysteries to be found, especially some very dangerous ones.
It's a movie which, to be honest, reminds me of the Alien franchise, at least its most recent instalments. The only major difference is that in this case, everything is treated with much more care, intelligence and knowledge. Although this one leads to a similar conclusion, you have the feeling that it doesn't insult your intelligence and that it also tries to tell its story in a rather acceptable way. Speaking of which, although very predictable most of the time, it manages to keep it all together, generating plenty of suspense along the way.
The characters are also ok, while not very well described, they tend to be likeable, thus their suffering doesn't leave the viewer without any emotion. The producers could have done a lot more in this compartment, but the result is quite ok, at least for the plot that it tries to deliver. The action is rather static, with a couple of rushes now and then, generating a dark but interesting atmosphere in which the characters can take their "fight".
As a result, I was left with some mixed feelings. Although predictable, even with the twist in the end, the movie somehow manages to keep the viewer interested. The suspense it creates is also a very big plus, while the actors do their job quite well in portraying their characters, which once again, could have been much better described. Its biggest let-down as far as I'm concerned is by far the plot. It could have done a lot more than being as linear, predictable and also generic as it is. Without a couple of different ideas it had, it would have been a pretty classic horror movie, without logic or even a clear finale.