Underrated - this is a great creature feature

Rating: 8/10 (13 February 2019)

Great film, classic late night movie fare. Seen it three or four times now, once in the cinema, once on cable, and twice on rental DVD. It didn't get much love from the critics, and I seriously wonder why. Together with Prometheus, and alien covenant , this movie would make an excellent triple bill - alien mayhem in space. What I love about this film is that it starts out all grand and majestic, with the space vistas, the soaring strings and brass on the soundtrack, the title flashes out large to the crescendo , the moments of sheer wonder, it makes you think it's about finding life beyond the stars, then slowly, slowly, the scenes start taking on ominous undertones. then ... things start going downhill, the cute little alien starts getting really ravenous faster than you can say "calvin!". Before long, several crew members are mush. Subsequently, the tension mounts with every run-in between the remaining crew members and the alien, and by the three quarter way mark in the film, when Sho is trying to climb up the spaceship shaft with the alien stalking him from below, I was tearing a hole in my arm rests in the cinema! That's the mark of a good thriller - the carnage and mayhem just mounts till the (downbeat) climax. I actually watched this on a lazy sunday afternoon at the multiplex, and wasn't expecting much. Boy, was I wrong. This is one of my favourite space-creature feature in recent years.
And I have to put in a paragraph for Jake Gyllenhaal - he really, really sells every single scene he is in. I mean, there really is no reason for Gyllenhaal to act the hell out of this role - after all, this is not the kind of role or movie that wins anyone acting honours - but he truly and professionally knocks this right out of the park. I now am full of admiration for him, much more that in his other more "actorly" roles. If anyone out there hasn't seen this, go rent it immediately!