I'm Mixed On LIFE

Rating: 6/10 (10 April 2017)

Not your typically directed sci-fi movie, or any movie for that matter.
I was a little annoyed how quickly the film jumps straight to the unfolding plot with basically zero character development. There is no real lead actor accept for Jake Gyllenhaal, and just barely.
While the camera work is innovative and presents believable scenes, I found the spinning and whirling techniques dizzying and over the top.
But then something happens about twenty minutes in. The story becomes truly terrifying.
"Calvin", the name originally given to their new pet from the planet Mars, awakes, grows, learns, and makes his prime directive known very quickly: Assimilate all available life forms and kill them.
With each kill, Calvin grows bigger, faster and stronger. And he/she/it is one ugly bastard. Calvin looks like a cross between an octopus, dragonfly, and a man eating plant.
After failing to burn Calvin to death, the remaining crew quickly assumes Calvin could probably survive re-entry to earth as their damaged space station suffers one calamity after another putting them into a decaying orbit.
Many desperate decisions are then made that only prove to make the situation worse.
Aside from the odd mix of basically one-dimensional characters and screw-ball camera work, I did find LIFE something of a genuine nail biter and would recommend it, but not for young children.
Several of the scenes are very intense and I'm not sure you would want your eight-year-old watching it.
Nightmarish stuff for sure.