Life is a lot of fun and intense. With a great cast ensemble and thrills. It can't be missed,

Rating: 9/10 (23 March 2017)

Life is an awesome fun science fiction horror film that covers familiar ground with the story all while keeping the thrills and adrenaline rushing. Lets cross the first thing that may be running in everyone's minds and comparing Life to the Alien movie. Yes, it has that familiar plot of astronauts in a space station. They discover some lifeform that evolves into a killing monster. Everyone is killed off one by one. Life is more grounded compared to Alien. Sticking to a modern time and being more believable with the concept as the space crew reconnect with their satellite probe that was sent to Mars to get some samples. Some of those samples have some hibernating organism that develops and grows rapidly and gains intelligence. Next thing you know, this alien species they call "Calvin," is an unstoppable killing machine. The creature design on Calvin was also grounded and its incredible strength.
Besides having a familiar story, the direction and script was fast paced and intense. The script tries to build some characterization briefly with the space crew. From an introspective Dr. Jordan (Jake Gyllenhaal), a medical analysis Dr. North (Rebecca Ferguson), Hugh (Ariyon Bakare), Katerina (Olga Dihovichnaya), Roy (Ryan Reynolds), and Sho (Hiroyuki Sanada). We learn briefly about these characters, but you also care for them when they meet a deadly bloody fate. Even, if there are some stupid choices made, being made for a logical reason. You actually feel sad when somebody dies in the film. Kind of rare for most horror films now and days, when the script has nothing but stock characters. The first character death scene was disturbing and bloody when their fate is sealed in a horrible way. Just like how Alien had that dinner table scene that really set the tone.
The film does have plenty of thrills, as characters are trying to figure a way to eliminate Calvin and avoiding the alien from reaching Earth even if it requires they sacrifice their lives. What makes the thrills is the space station being small and tight corridors with the alien freely roaming and killing characters off. The intensity never slows down. The direction was pretty exciting, seeing characters being in a zero gravity setting and the visual effects was stunning and the creature design was grounded and creepy. It does have a fun great cast ensemble with some recognizable actors like Ryan Reynolds, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Rebecca Ferguson. And a few others.
Without giving away spoilers, the film does have a twist in the end that left myself with a frustrated and surprised reaction in a good way. I thought the ending was intense and a bit nerve wrecking. But left the movie being satisfied.
Overall, Life is a really good sci-fi horror movie that worked great on its own; it was a lot of fun, intense, and thrilling. Better than expected. I definitely recommend it if you care for the genre. I rate Life 4.5 out of 5 stars.